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PROBLEMS IN 
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


BY 

THAMES ROSS WILLIAMSON 

u 

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY 
IN SMITH COLLEGE; EDITOR OF “ READINGS 
IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.” 


Problems are the growing pains of civilization , offering 
opportunities for personal achievement and pointing 
the way to national progress. 


REVISED 


D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 


^K2.14 

•VS/ 5 5_ 

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Copyright, 1922, and 1925, 
By D. C. Heath & COo 

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PRINTED IN UcSeA. 


PREFACE 


There is an increasing demand for a textbook which will 
bring the student into direct contact with the great current 
issues of American life, and which will afford practical train¬ 
ing to those who soon must grapple with the economic, social, 
and political problems of our own time. It is with the hope 
of meeting such a demand that this text has been prepared. 

The plan of the book calls for a word of explanation. It is 
poor pedagogy to expect the student to attack the defects of 
American life, and at the same time to place in his hands a 
book which deals preeminently with the mechanism of govern¬ 
ment. As well send a boy to a hardware store to buy tools 
before he is told whether he is to make a mouse-trap or a boat. 
Furthermore, to spend much more time on the mechanism of 
government than on the actual problems of democracy is a 
mistake in emphasis. Government is a means, not an 
end. It'is a tool by means of which we attack and solve our 
problems. 

Therefore the student of this text begins, not with the 
mechanism of government, but with the historical background 
of American democracy, its origin, development, and promise 
for the future. Following this is a brief survey of the economic 
life of the nation, because that economic life constitutes the 
fundamental basis of our problems. Considerable space has 
been devoted to a problem growing directly out of economic 
conditions, i.e. the question of social justice or industrial reform. 
This is the most pressing question before any modern people, 
but strangely enough one which heretofore has been neglected 
by our schools. 

Because they tend to arise primarily from a bad economic 
situation, such social problems as industrial relations, health 
in industry, and immigration are next considered. From social 



vin 


PREFACE 


problems the text passes to the economic and social functions 
of government, and thence to the question of making govern¬ 
ment effective. The mechanism of government has been placed 
last, and for the reason already given, i.e. because a knowledge 
of the framework of government is valuable only after the 
citizen knows something of the needs which that mechanism 
must be made to fill. 

It has not been easy to compress into a single volume the 
most important of our national problems. Obviously, a rigid 
selection has been necessary. In this selection the aim has been 
to discuss the more important issues of American life, whether 
economic, social, or purely political. In dealing with these 
issues, the attempt has been made to keep in mind the stu¬ 
dent’s previous preparation; on the other hand, the civic de¬ 
mands which the future will make upon him have not been 
ignored. Some of the problems are difficult, but they are also 
of vital importance. Very shortly the student will be con¬ 
fronted, in his everyday activities, with such puzzling matters 
as socialism, the control of immigration, and taxation reform. 
If the school does not prepare him to grapple with these ques¬ 
tions intelligently, he can only partially fulfill the obligations 
of citizenship. 

Throughout the text the hmj has been to go directly to the 
heart of the problem under consideration. The student is not 
burdened with a mass of data which would prove confusing, 
and which would be out of date before he is out of school. 
Instead, an effort has been made to outline, first the essential 
nature of the problem, and second the fundamental principles 
which affect its solution. / Care has been taken to cultivate 
the problem attitude) and to encourage the spirit of inde¬ 
pendent investigation and open-minded judgment on the part 
of the student. 

It goes without saying that the success of this book will 
depend largely upon the use which the teacher makes of it. 
The text *jim$ to supply the basic facts and the fundamental 
principles involved in specific problems, but the teacher must 
interpret many of those facts and principles, and ought, in 


PREFACE 


lx 


addition, to furnish illustrative material. The book is not 
intended to be an encyclopedia, but rather a suggestive guide. 

The text covers the fundamentals of three distinct fields: 
economics, sociology, and government. Sufficient reference 
and topic work is offered to enable teachers to expand the text 
along particular lines. Thus Part II might serve as a nucleus 
around which to build up a special course in economics, while 
Part III would serve as a basis for a similar course in applied 
sociology, if for some reason it were not feasible to take up 
other parts of the book. 

Though the text is the result of the cooperative efforts of a 
considerable number of specialists, its treatment of the prob¬ 
lems of American life is neither dogmatic nor arbitrary. The 
effort has been to treat all of our problems sanely and hope¬ 
fully, but at the same time to make it clear that many of these 
questions are still unsettled and the best method of disposing 
of them is yet hotly debated. This fact has strongly in¬ 
fluenced the manner in which the problems have been treated. 

Topics and Readings 

Following each chapter are suggestions for work to supplement the 
text. These suggestions are of six kinds, and are intended to meet a variety 
of needs. 

A number of easy questions on the text is first supplied. 

Following these is a number of required readings to supplement each 
chapter of the text. The student may be asked to read a single chapter 
from Williamson’s Readings in American Democracy , collected and arranged 
so as to furnish in compact form and in a single volume supplementary 
material which otherwise the teacher would have to find in a number of 
separate books. In case the use of the Readings is not feasible, some or 
all of the alternative required readings may be available. 

The required readings are followed by a number of questions thereon. 
Questions on the material contained in Williamson’s Readings in American 
Democracy will be found at the end of each chapter in that volume; ques¬ 
tions on the required readings cited as alternative to this volume will be 
found at the end of each chapter in the text. 

Topic work is provided in two groups. Topics in the first group form 
a link between the text and the everyday experience of the student on 
the one hand, and between the activities of the student’s local community 
and national problems on the other. The student is called upon, for ex¬ 
ample, to investigate the attitude of the local press toward controversial 


X 


PREFACE 


questions, or to examine the administration of local charitable relief. Topic 
work of this sort not only quickens the interest of the student, but it en¬ 
courages original investigation and independent thought. It lets the student 
know what is going on in his community, and it informs individuals and 
institutions beyond the school that this agency is beginning to connect 
with the problems of the municipality, state, and nation. This sort of topic 
work also allows the student to test the accuracy of the text, and to 
interpret local conditions in the light of broad, national tendencies. 

The second group of topics contains material for report work. In the 
case of practically all of these topics, the student is referred specifically 
to books and other publications. 

Beginning with Chapter XVIII of the text, the topics are followed by 
a series of questions for classroom discussion. Some of these may be turned 
into classroom debates. Others allow the student to challenge statements 
in the text. A few of these questions have never been satisfactorily answered 
by anyone, yet the student must face them in the world outside the school, 
and it cannot be time wasted to understand their content now. 


Acknowledgments 

In the preparation of this text the author has received valuable assistance 
from a number of sources. Though such assistance in no way diminishes 
his responsibility for the shortcomings of the book, the author desires here 
to acknowledge the aid extended him. 

The entire manuscript has been carefully worked over and criticized by 
Clarence D. Kingsley, Chairman of the Commission on the Reorganiza¬ 
tion of Secondary Education. Payson Smith, Commissioner of Education 
tor the State of Massachusetts offered valuable suggestions in connection 
with certain parts of the manuscript. The thanks of the author are also 
due to L. L. Jackson Assistant Commissioner of Education for the State 
of New Jersey. 

Invaluable aid has been received from numerous members of the faculty 
of Harvard University. Parts of the text were read and criticized by 
A. Lawrence Lowell, President; Roscoe Pound, Dean of the Law School; 
and Paul H. Hanus, Dean of the Graduate School of Education. Profes¬ 
sors Edward Channing and F J. Turner, and Dr. Marcus L. Hanson offered 
valuable suggestions in connection with the historical chapters. 

In the Department of Economics, helpful criticisms were contributed 
by Professors F. W. Taussig, T. N. Carver, O. M. W. Sprague, C. J. 
Bullock, W. Z. Ripley, and E. E. Lincoln; and by Dr. E. A. Monroe 
and Dr. Mixter. 

Various chapters dealing with social problems were read and criticized 
by Professors Richard Cabot, James Ford, R. F. Foerster, and Dr. 
Niles Carpenter of the Department of Socials Ethics, as well as by 


PREFACE 


xi 


Dr. John M. Brewer of the Department of Education. Substantial aid 
was received from Professors W. B. Munro, A. B. Hart, and A. N. Hol¬ 
combe; and from Dr. A. C. Hanford, in the preparation of the chapters 
on political problems. 

Professor Edwin R. A. Seligman of the Department of Economics, and 
Professor Lindsay Rogers of the Department of Government, in Columbia 
University, contributed helpful suggestions. 

Professor Irving Fisher of Yale College read and criticized some of the 
material on economic subjects. 

Professor John L. Silberling at Dartmouth College went over the chap¬ 
ters dealing with the economic problems and pointed out numerous oppor¬ 
tunities for their improvement. 

Professor Frederick A. Cleveland of Boston University read the chapters 
on political problems. Professor Abbott P. Usher of the Department 
of Economic History helped with several of the chapters, while Pro¬ 
fessor Ernest R. Groves of the same institution kindly criticized the chapter 
on Rural Life. 

Henry Lefavour, President of Simmons College, and Sara H. Stites, 
Dean of the same institution, read various of the chapters on economic 
and social problems. 

Stuart Queen, Director of the Boston School for Social Workers, read 
the chapters on social problems, and strengthened especially the chapter 
on Dependency. 

At Smith College, the author is indebted to several of his colleagues, 
especially, perhaps, to Professors J. S. Basset and Sidney B. Fay of 
the Department of History, and to Professors Esther Lowenthal, Julius 
Drachsler, Harriette M. Dilla, and to Miss McMasters, of the Depart¬ 
ment of Economics and Sociology. 

At Amherst College the author is under great obligations to Profes¬ 
sor J. W. Crook of the Department of Economics, and to Dr. John M. Gaus 
of the Department of Government. 

At the Massachusetts Agricultural College the author is indebted to 
Kenyon L. Butterfield, President, and to Professor Newell L. Sims, for 
help on the chapters dealing with social problems. 

A number of teachers in the West kindly helped with various portions 
of the book. At the University of Wisconsin the author is under obliga¬ 
tions to Professors John R. Commons and Donald D. Lescohier of the 
Department of Economics. 

A. S. Roberts of the University of Illinois read various of the historical 
chapters. 

At the University of Iowa, the author is especially grateful for the help 
of Professor F. E. Horack of the Department of Government. 

Professor Charles Ellwood of the University of Missouri read and criti¬ 
cized the Chapter on the Family. 


Xll 


PREFACE 


Especially valuable were the suggestions which Professor James E. 
Le Rossignol of the University of Nebraska offered with respect to the 
Chapters on Socialism. 

At Leland Stanford University the author acknowledges his obligations 
to Professor Eliot Jones of the Department of Economics. 

In the United States Department of State, the author is indebted to 
Arthur N. Young for a critical reading of the Chapter on Single Tax. 

In the United States Department of Labor, the author is under obliga¬ 
tions to John B. Andrews for many suggestions on the Chapter on In¬ 
dustrial Relations. 

Gifford Pinchot, President of the National Conservation Association, 
kindly read and criticized the Chapter on Conservation. 

Edward R. Johnstone, Superintendent of the Training School at Vine- 
land, N. J., kindly read and criticized several of the chapters on social 
problems. 

Edward T. Devine of New York City offered valuable suggestions with 
regard to the Chapter on Dependency. 

Owen R. Love joy, Secretary of the National Child Labor Committee, 
strengthened the Chapter on Health in Industry. 

The Chapter on Crime and Correction was notably improved by the 
suggestions of Reginald Heber Smith, member of the Massachusetts Bar, 
and author of the admirable Justice and the Poor. 

J. P. Warbasse, President of the Cooperative League of America, went 
over the Chapter on Profit Sharing and Cooperation painstakingly. 

The Chapter on the Negro was criticized helpfully by Dr. W. E. B. 
DuBois, Editor of the Crisis. 

W. M. Steuart, Director of the United States Census, kindly supplied 
advance figures on the 1920 Census. 

The author is also indebted to Houghton Mifflin Company, Ginn and 
Company, and the Macmillan Company, either for advance information 
on certain of their new books, or for permission slightly to adapt some of 
the material appearing in books copyrighted by them. 

Lastly, the author is grateful to his wife for valuable assistance in cor¬ 
recting the proof. 


Thames Ross Williamson. 


Cambridge, Mass. 
February 7, 1922. 



CONTENTS' 


Part I — Foundations in American Democracy 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Background of American Democracy. i 

II. The Origin of American Democracy. 9 

III. The Development of American Democracy. 18 

IV. Essentials of American Constitutional Government 27 

V. The Problems of American Democracy. 35 

Part II — American Economic Problems 

A. Economics oe American Industry 

VI. The Nature of American Industry. 44 

VII. What is Meant by Production.. 53 

VIII. Exchanging the Products of Industry. 61 

IX. Distributing the Income of Industry. 68 

X. Bases of the Capitalistic System. 76 

B. Programs of Industrial Reform 

XI. Single Tax. 86 

XII. Profit Sharing and Cooperation. 93 

XIII. The General Nature of Socialism. 103 

XIV. Militant Socialism: The I. W. W... 113 

XV. Militant Socialism: The Bolshevists. 120 

XVI. The Case Against Socialism. 130 

XVII. A Democratic Program of Industrial Reform. . . . 141 

Part III — American Social Problems 

XVIII. Industrial Relations. 154 

XIX. Health in Industry. 168 

XX. Immigration and Assimilation. i8j 

XXI. Crime and Correction. 193 

XXII. The Negro . 206 

xiii 





















XIV 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


XXIII. The Family. 

XXIV. Dependency: Its Relief and Prevention 

XXV. Rural Life. 

XXVI. Education. 



Part IV — American Political Problems 


PAGE 

.216 

229 

242 

255 


A. Some Economic Functions oe Government 


XXVII. Public Interest in Business: Regulation. 267 

XXVIII. Public Interest in Business: Ownership. 277 

XXIX. The Tariff. 292 

XXX. Conservation. 303 

XXXI. Credit and Banking. 315 

XXXII. Taxation...\. 327 

B. Making Government Effective 

XXXIII. Who Shall Share in Government?.. 341 

XXXIV. The Political Party.. . 352 

XXXV. Choosing the Agents of Government.: x 365 

XXXVI. Honesty and Efficiency in Office. 377 

XXXVII. The Extension of Popular Control. 389 

XXXVIII. Public Opinion.f. 399 


C. Our Relations with Other Nations 

XXXIX. The Nature of International Relations. 410 

XL. The Improvement of International Relations . .. 420 


Part V — The Mechanism oe Government 


A. The Federal Government 

XLI. The Federal System of Government. 430 

XLII. The President of the United States. 443 

XLIII. The National Administration. 454 

XLIV. Nature and Powers of Congress. 465 

XLV. Congress in Action. 4^6 

XLVI. The Federal Courts. 486 

B. State and Local Government 

XLVII. Constitutional Basis of State Government. 495 

XLVIII. The State Executive. 503 



























CONTENTS 


xv 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XLX IX. The State Legislature. . 511 

L. The State Courts. 519 

LI. Municipal Government. 528 

LII. Rural Local Government. 537 

Bibliography . 545 

Appendix . 558 

The Constitution of the United States. 558 

Index . 571 

3V5- 











PROBLEMS IN 
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


PART I —FOUNDATIONS IN AMERICAN 
DEMOCRACY 

CHAPTER I 

THE BACKGROUND OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

1. The meaning of national greatness. — We apply the term 
greatness to nations that have made substantial contributions 
to civilization. By civilization is meant a well-rounded and 
highly developed culture, or, to say the same thing in different 
words, an advanced state of material and social well-being. 

Civilization is so vast and so many-sided that it may receive 
contributions in very diverse forms. The invention of the 
hieroglyphic system of writing is among the leading achieve¬ 
ments of ancient Egypt, but the art and literature of Greece 
have been no less conspicuous in the onward sweep of human 
progress. The promotion of the science of navigation by the 
Phoenicians, and the development of law and architecture by 
Rome, illustrate a few of the forms in which peoples may confer 
marked benefits upon the world. The advancement of music 
and painting by Italy, France, and other European nations, 
and the application and expansion of the idea of parliamentary 
government by England, are further examples of ways in which 
nations may earn for themselves the title of greatness. 

2. The conditions of national greatness. — In order that a 
nation may become great, i.e. make some distinct contribution 
to civilization, two conditions must be fulfilled. 


2 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


The first condition of national greatness is that the land 
under that nation’s control must be encouraging to man’s 
honest, helpful efforts. 1 The vigorous Scandinavians have made 
great advances in inhospitable Iceland and Greenland, the 
French have reclaimed an important section of Algeria, and 
the British have worked wonders with some of the barren 
parts of Australia; nevertheless, it is with great difficulty that 
prosperous communities are developed in lands relatively 
barren of natural resources, or unusually severe in climate. 

A high and stable civilization has rarely arisen in the tropics, 
because there the overabundance of Nature renders sustained 
work unnecessary, while the hot, enervating climate tends to 
destroy initiative and ambition. It is no accident that the 
greatest nations of modern times are located chiefly within 
the stimulating temperate zones, where Nature is richly en¬ 
dowed, but where, too, her treasures are rarely bestowed upon 
those who do not struggle consistently for them. 

The second condition of national greatness is an intelligent 
and industrious population, willing to abide by the law, and 
devoted to the building of homes. The combination of an 
unpromising land and an inferior population effectually pre¬ 
vents the rise of a high civilization. And just as the choicest 
of men can do relatively little in an unfriendly land, so the 
most promising of countries may be despoiled or temporarily 
ruined by a slothful or lawless population. 

From the standpoint of civilization, the best results are 
obtained when a virile and law-abiding people exercise control 
over a land rich in natural resources and possessed of a stimu¬ 
lating climate. France and Great Britain in Europe, and 
Canada and the United States in North America, are examples 
of great nations which have been built up in such lands and 
by such peoples. 

3. The attractiveness of North America. — It will be in¬ 
teresting to examine North America in the light of the two 

1 As used in this chapter the term “ land ” is held to include not only 
such natural resources as soil, minerals, forests, and bodies of water, 
but climate as well. 


THE BACKGROUND OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 3 

conditions of national greatness discussed in the preceding 
section. We may note, first of all, that by far the greater 
part of the territory now comprising the United States and 
Canada is distinctly favorable to settlement. This territory 
lies almost entirely within the temperate zone: it has unat¬ 
tractive spots, but in general it is neither so barren of resources 
as to discourage the home-maker, nor so tropical in its abun¬ 
dance as to reward him without his putting forth considerable 
effort. Particularly within the bounds of the United States 
is a well-balanced national life encouraged by the diversity 
of soils and the wide variety of climate. 1 Certainly the con¬ 
tinent of North America fulfills the first condition of national 
greatness. 

4. The coining of the European. — The discovery of America 
in 1492 opened a new era in world history. The nations of 
western Europe were disappointed when their earlier explorers 
found the way to Cathay blocked by a new land-mass, but 
the Spanish discoyery of treasure in Mexico and South America 
soon turned disappointment into keen interest. No magic 
palaces or spice islands were found, but there were revealed two 
virgin continents inviting, colonial expansion on a scale pre¬ 
viously unknown. Of the European powers which at various 
times laid claim to parts of the New World, Spain, France, 
Holland, and England occupy significant positions in the back¬ 
ground of American democracy. We may briefly notice the 
influence of each of these four powers upon America. 

5. Spain. — Though the Spanish were the first in the field, 
the motives of the colonists limited their ultimate success in 
the new land. The earlier Spaniards were missionaries and 
treasure-seekers, rather than home builders and artisans. The 
early discovery of great quantities of gold and silver had the 
effect of encouraging the continued search for treasure. In 
this treasure-quest, often fruitless, the Spanish practically 
confined themselves to Mexico and the region to the south. 
In these areas they did valuable work in Christianizing and 

1 For a fuller discussion of the natural resources of the United 
States, see Chapter VI. 


4 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


educating the natives, but little industrial progress was made. 
Except for the missionary work of the Spanish, their earlier 
colonization was largely transient and engaged in for the 
purpose of exploitation. 

6. France. — France disputed the claim of Spain to North 
America soon after the opening of the sixteenth century. The 
French attempted to settle in Florida and in South Carolina, 
but the opposition of the near-by Spanish forced the newcomers 
to leave. In 1524 Verrazano explored the North Atlantic 
coast for the French, and ten years later Cartier sailed up the 
St. Lawrence and founded the claim of France to that section 
of the New World. 

Following the example of Spain, France dispatched mission¬ 
aries to the New World to convert the Indians. Soldiers and 
trappers were sent out to develop the valuable fur trade by 
the establishment of widely separated forts and trading posts. 
But the French settlers had no popular lawmaking bodies, 
being completely under the power of the king. Only along 
the St. Lawrence, where agricultural colonies were planted, 
did the French really attach themselves to the soil. Elsewhere 
there were few French women and therefore few normal French 
homes, and when in 1763 all of the French possessions east of 
the Mississippi were ceded to England, it was largely true 
that the French coloilies had not yet taken root in the country. 
Infinite courage, devotion, and self-sacrifice were ultimately 
wasted, largely because of the lack of homes, the absence of 
self-government, and the failure to develop an industrial basis 
of colonization. 

7. Holland. — The Dutch became aware of the commercial 
possibilities of the New World when in 1609 Henry Hudson 
discovered the river which bears his name. Trading posts 
were soon established in the neighborhood, and in 1621 the 
West India Company was given full authority to plant colonies 
in New Netherland. A brisk trade in furs developed, but 
though the Company grew rich, the colonists were not satisfied. 
The agriculturists along the Hudson had the benefit of a fertile 
soil and a genial climate, but they operated their farms under 


THE BACKGROUND OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


5 


a feudal land system which allowed an overlord to take most 
of their surplus produce. Moreover, the Dutch governors 
were autocratic, and the settlers had little voice in the gov¬ 
ernment of the colony. Loyalty to Holland waned as the 
Dutch saw their English neighbors thriving under less restric¬ 
tive laws and a more generous land system, so that when in 
1664 the colony passed into the possession of the English, the 
majority of the settlers welcomed the change. 

8 . England. — The Spanish had been in the New World a 
century before the English made any appreciable impression 
upon the continent of North America. In 1583 Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert had made an unsuccessful attempt to found a colony 
on the coast of Newfoundland, and a few years later Sir Walter 
Raleigh’s venture at Roanoke Island proved equally disastrous. 
Colonization was retarded until 1588, in which year England’s 
defeat of the Spanish Armada destroyed the sea power of her 
most formidable rival. The English may be said to have made 
serious and consistent attempts at colonization only after 
this event. 

Like France, England desired to set herself up as a successful 
colonizing rival of Spain. Impelled by this motive, the earlier 
English adventurers sought treasure rather than homes. But 
the high hopes bf the early English joint stock companies 
were not justified. Those who had looked to America for 
treasure were disappointed: no gold was forthcoming, and 
such groups as the Jamestown settlers of 1607 very nearly 
perished before they learned that America’s treasure-house 
could be unlocked only by hard work. In spite of heavy in¬ 
vestments and repeated attempts at colonization, these first 
ventures were largely failures. 

9 . The coming of the home-maker. — It may truly be said 
that the seeds of national greatness were not planted in America 
until home-making succeeded exploitation by governments and 
joint stock companies. Home-making received little or no en¬ 
couragement in the early Spanish, French, and Dutch colonies. 
Almost from the first, England allowed her colonies a large 
measure of self-government, but it is significant that these 


6 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


colonies made little progress so long as they were dominated 
by joint stock companies intent upon exploitation. It was 
only when individuals, and groups of individuals, settled in¬ 
dependently of the companies that the colonies began to thrive. 
The first really tenacious settlers on the Atlantic seaboard 
were groups of families who were willing to brave the dangers 
of an unknown land for the sake of religious freedom, economic 
independence, and a large share of self-government. It was 
with the coming of these people that our second condition of 
national greatness was fulfilled. 

10. Growth of the English colonies. — The English annexa¬ 
tion of New Netherland in 1664, and the concessions of the 
French in 1763, left the English in undisputed possession of 
the greater part of the Atlantic seaboard. The English colonies 
in this area grew with astonishing rapidity. Cheap land, re¬ 
ligious freedom, and the privilege of self-government attracted 
settlers from all parts of northern Europe. At the close of the 
seventeenth century there were 260,000 English subjects in 
North America; in 1750 there were approximately 1,000,000; 
and in 1775 there were probably 3,000,000. 

Although in most sections the dominant element was of 
English extraction, other nationalities contributed to the popu¬ 
lation. Along the Delaware, Swedes were interspersed with 
the English, while in Pennsylvania there were large groups of 
Germans. Numerous Dutch settlers had continued to live 
along the Hudson after New Netherland had passed into Eng- 
fish hands. Some of the most frugal and industrious of the 
settlers of Georgia and South Carolina were French Huguenots, 
while along the seaboard and inland the Scotch-Irish were 
found scatteringly in agriculture and trade. Such was the 
composition of the people who were destined to begin an un¬ 
exampled experiment in democracy, an experiment upon the 
successful termination of which rests our chief claim to national 
greatness. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is meant by civilization? 

2. What two conditions must be fulfilled in order that a nation may 

become great? 


THE BACKGROUND OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 7 

3. In what way does America fulfill the first condition? 

4. Discuss the character of the early Spanish colonization. 

5. What were the chief reasons for the failure of the French in America? 

6. What were the chief defects of the Dutch colonial system in America? 

7. Compare the earlier English colonization with that of Spain, 

France, and Holland. 

8 . When were the seeds of national greatness planted in America? 

9. Who were the first really tenacious settlers on the Atlantic sea¬ 

board? 

10. Outline the growth of the English colonies. 

11. Upon what does our chief claim to national greatness depend? 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter i. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bogart, Economic History of the United States, chapter ii. 

3. Coman, Industrial History of the United States, chapter i. 

4. Huntington and Cushing, Principles of Human Geography, chapters 

i and xii. 

5. Smith, Commerce and Industry, introduction. 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Discuss the statement, “Civilization is a product of adversity.” 

(Smith, page 2.) 

2. What is the effect of tropic abundance upon civilization? (Smith, 

page 2.) 

3. What is the relation of efficiency to climate? (Huntington and 

Cushing, page 6.) 

4. In what way is civilization related to density of population? 

(Huntington and Cushing, page 10.) 

5. What is an ideal climate, and where is such a climate found? 

(Huntington and Cushing, page 254.) 

6. How does national progress depend upon beasts of burden? (Smith, 

page 8.) 

7. Name some of the political motives of colonization in America. 

(Bogart, pages 29-30.) 

8. Name the chief religious motives of colonization. (Bogart, page 30.) 

9. What were the chief economic motives of colonization? (Bogart, 

pages 31-34O 

10. Why did the English finally prevail in the struggle for the Atlantic 
seaboard? (Coman, pages 19-21.) 


8 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Topics for Investigation and Report 

i 

1. Check up your own experience carefully in order to determine 

during what season of the year you work most effectively. What 
light does your answer throw upon Topic 5? 

2. To what extent is the climate of your section favorable to an ener¬ 

getic life? To what extent, if to any, is it discouraging to initi¬ 
ative and ambition? 

3. Trace the influence of the geography of your section upon the 

economic life of your community. 

4. The nature of civilization. 


n 

5. Relation of civilization to climate. (Huntington, Civilization and 

Climate , pages 148-182.) 

6. The relation of cheap food to the growth of population. (Carver, 

Sociology and Social Progress , pages 235-243.) 

7. The effect of desert life upon health and spirits. (Carver, Soci¬ 

ology and Social Progress, pages 273-275.) 

8. Effect of the climate of North America upon persons of European 

descent. (Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, pages 1-22.) 

9. The influence of the Appalachian barrier upon American colonial 

history. (Semple, American History and Its Geographic Con¬ 
ditions, chapter iii.) 

10. The Spanish in America. (Consult any standard history text.) 

11. The French in America. (Consult any standard history text.) 

12. The Dutch in America. (Consult any standard history text.) 

13. The English in America. (Consult any standard history text.) 

14. The qualities of an ideal people. (Carver, Elementary Economics, 

chapter iv.) 


CHAPTER II 


THE ORIGIN OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

11. The nature of government.—A government may be 
defined as an agency through which the purposes of a state 
or nation are formulated and carried out. This agency develops 
where men live in groups. One of the chief objects of govern¬ 
ment is to adjust individual interests, or, to say the same thing 
in slightly different words, to control members of the group 
in their social relations. 

Where groups are small and culture is at a low level, gov¬ 
ernment may consist in little more than the arbitrary rules of 
a self-appointed chieftain. From this stage there are numerous 
gradations up to the great complex governments of the leading 
nations of to-day. With the origin and general development 
of government we are not here concerned, and we may accord¬ 
ingly confine our attention to those types of modern govern¬ 
ment which throw light upon the development of American 
democracy. 

12. The absolute monarchy. — An absolute monarchy may 
be defined as a government in which supreme power or sov¬ 
ereignty is lodged in one individual. This monarch holds his 
position for life, generally with hereditary succession. Often 
the absolute monarchy arose out of the ancient chieftainship, 
when, as the result of territorial expansion and cultural de¬ 
velopment, the chief of a group of tribes became the king of 
a settled and civilized people. The absolute monarchy existed 
in most of the countries of Europe previous to the end of the 
eighteenth century. In its most extreme form the absolute 
monarchy rested upon the claim of the monarch that he ruled 
by “divine right,” i.e ., that God had authorized him to rule. 
France in the era of Louis XIV is one of the best known ex¬ 
amples of a modern nation ruled by a “divine right” monarch. 

9 


IO PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

13 . The limited monarchy. — When a monarch has been 
restricted in his powers a limited or constitutional monarchy 
is said to exist. Almost always the establishment of a limited 
monarchy has been preceded by a series of struggles between 
king and people. In many cases these struggles have been 
precipitated or intensified by the monarch’s abuse of power. 
A striking example is offered by English history. As the result 
of his arbitrary rule, King John was in 1215 obliged to sign 
the Magna Charta, by which act he gave up many important 
powers. The limits thus set upon the kingly power were affirmed 
and extended by the Petition of Right of 1628 and by the Bill 
of Rights of 1689. A similar limiting process has gone on in 
other countries, either by the framing of constitutions, or by 
the enlargement of the powers of legislatures, or by both 
methods. To-day the absolute monarchy is practically un¬ 
known among civilized nations. 

14 . The republic. — The republic is a form of government 
in which ultimate power or sovereignty resides with the people 
as a whole rather than with a single individual. Instead of a 
monarch there is generally an elective president, with varying 
powers. The republic is a very old form of government, but 
in the republics of Greece, Rome and Venice the powers of 
government were exercised by a class composed of a small 
minority of the people. In modern republics a larger propor¬ 
tion of the adult population participates in government. 

A republic may arise in any one of several ways, but most 
of the republics of modern times have grown out of monarchical 
conditions, either directly or indirectly. Our republic arose as 
a reaction against English monarchy, while the French republic 
came into being as the result of the destruction of a monarchical 
government. Most of the republics of Latin America date from 
the throwing off of the Spanish yoke in the first half of the 
nineteenth century. More recently, the World War has given 
rise to a number of European republics, composed of peoples 
formerly under the control of monarchical governments. 

15 . Democracy as a political idea. — The term democ- 
- racy is derived from two Greek words which taken together 


THE ORIGIN OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


II 


mean “control by the people.” Strictly speaking, democracy 
is a form of government only where a small group governs 
itself directly, i.e., without making use of the representative 
device. This “pure” democracy, such as existed in the early 
New England town, becomes a representative democracy, or 
a republic, when a greater population and an increasing polit¬ 
ical complexity require the people to act through their rep- 
sentatives, rather than as a body. In the sense that democ¬ 
racy is popular control, the term democracy may conceivably 
be applied to any form of government. The present govern¬ 
ment of Great Britain, for example, is technically a limited 
monarchy, yet the gradual extension of popular control has 
made it one of the most democratic governments in the world. 
Nevertheless, the modern republic is so generally associated 
with the democratic movement that many authorities speak 
of a democracy as identical with a republic. For the time being 
we may use the term democracy to describe a form of govern¬ 
ment in which considerable control is exercised by the people. 
More briefly, democracy may be thought of as self-government. 

16. Why democracy developed in America. — There are four 
reasons why democracy developed early in America. 

The first is to be found in the conditions of pioneer life in 
the colonies. The wilderness forced self-government upon the 
settlers. Clearing the forests, subduing the Indians, and con¬ 
quering animal foes was stern work, which weeded out the 
indolent and inefficient, and rewarded the capable and self- 
reliant. Pioneer conditions did not encourage a cringing or 
submissive spirit, but fostered independence and individualism. 
The spirit of equality tended to become a dominant feature 
of American life, for despite the existence of social classes, the 
great majority of the population had to rely for their living 
upon their own efforts. Under such conditions self-reliance and 
self-government were natural developments. 

The selected character of the colonists is a second reason 
for the rise of democracy in America. Restless spirits who 
had chafed under the restraints of monarchy in Europe, thronged 
to the new land. Once here they often found the older American 


12 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


communities intolerant, and so struck out into the wilderness to 
found new and, to them, more democratic colonies. The found¬ 
ing of Rhode Island by Roger Williams, and the settlement of 
the Connecticut valley by Thomas Hooker, illustrate this 
tendency. 

It should be remembered, thirdly, that the English colonists 
brought with them very definite ideas as to the rights of man. 
The concessions granted by the Magna Charta were made an 
essential part of their political philosophy. The belief that all 
men were born free and equal, and that government derives 
its just powers from the consent of the governed, became 
prominent in early American politics. Where the democratic 
tendencies of the settlers were reinforced by such traditions, 
an oppressive government could not last. In Carolina in 
1670, for example, an attempt to set up an undemocratic gov¬ 
ernment failed, and when half a century later a similar attempt 
was made in Georgia, the settlers objected so ardently that the 
founders of the colony were obliged to grant the privilege of 
self-government. 

A fourth explanation of the rise of democracy in America 
is that, left to themselves, the settlers came to feel that self- 
government was morally right. Largely removed from the 
traditions of monarchy, they soon realized the elemental sig¬ 
nificance of government. Seeing government as a device to 
help people get along together, they concluded that that gov¬ 
ernment is best which most helps the masses of the people. 
The existence of a British monarch was a small factor in the 
everyday life of the early settlers, and from this it was a short 
step to asserting that his control over them was unjust. Living 
under primitive economic conditions, the minds of the people 
turned naturally to freely formed agreements as a basis of 
group action. Under such conditions democracy appeared to 
the colonists as moral, just, and natural. 

17 . Applying the democratic idea. — Partly because of the 
isolation of early American life, and partly because England 
was busy with European politics, the settlers were left rel¬ 
atively free to work out their ideas of democracy. The Pil- 


THE ORIGIN OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


13 


grims had not yet set foot upon the new land when they drew 
up the Mayflower Compact, by the terms of which they agreed 
to establish a pure democracy in their new home. In 1639 the 
inhabitants of three Connecticut towns came together in a 
mass meeting, and drew up the Connecticut Fundamental 
Orders, which many authorities regard as the first written 
constitution in this country. Aside from the fact that the 
Orders created a small republic in the heart of the wilderness, 
they are 1 of importance because they issued directly from the 
people, without suggestion from, or direction by, any outside 
agency. Elsewhere in New England, too, local self-government 
was a spontaneous growth. Usually the settlers grouped them¬ 
selves in small, compact communities known as towns, the 
freemen coming together in the town meeting for the purpose 
of passing laws and electing officials. The town meeting con¬ 
stituted a pure democracy, in which the freemen governed 
themselves consciously and directly. 

18 . Spread of the representative idea. — The principle of 
representative government appeared very early in English his¬ 
tory, expressing itself most clearly in the houses of Parliament. 
The principle was early transplanted to America, for in 1619 
we find the London Company establishing in Virginia a House 
of Burgesses, the first representative assembly in the New 
World. The representative democracy spread rapidly through 
the colonies, in many cases replacing the pure democracy as 
a form of local government. In Massachusetts Bay, for ex¬ 
ample, the population of the colony became so dispersed, and 
the complexity of its government so great, that it was necessary 
for most freemen to remain at home, and to content themselves 
with choosing a small number of individuals to represent their 
interests. These representatives gathered in the General Court 
and transacted the business of the colony. 

19 . The separation of powers. — As government develops in 
scope and complexity, there is a tendency for the agents of 
government to specialize in various types of work. A more 
or less recognizable separation of the governmental machinery 
into legislative, executive, and judicial branches had long been 


14 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


a feature of English government. Early in the seventeenth 
century this principle was transferred to the government of 
the English colonies in America. There was established in 
each colony a legislative branch for the enactment of laws, 
an executive branch to see that the laws were enforced, and 
a judicial branch for the interpretation of the laws. This 
separation of functions was more definite in America than in 
England because the jealousy existing between colonial leg¬ 
islature and colonial executive tended sharply to separate their 
powers. In America, too, the judiciary was more clearly an 
independent branch of government than in England. 

20. The colonies as self-governing states. — It has often 
been said that for a considerable period prior to the American 
Revolution, the thirteen colonies were in reality self-governing 
states. For most practical purposes they were independent, 
indeed, some American patriots insisted that they were only 
nominally subject to England. In each colony there was an 
assembly chosen by a restricted number of voters. This pop¬ 
ular assembly championed the cause of the colonists against 
the governor, who in most of the colonies was primarily an 
agent of the Crown. After the middle of the eighteenth cen¬ 
tury, the struggles between assembly and governor increased in 
number and in intensity, and victory rested more and more 
often with the assembly. 1 

21. Effect of the Revolution upon American governments. 

— The Revolution did not greatly affect the character of 
American governments. Democracy, at first weak and ill 
diffused, had been spreading steadily during the preceding 
century, and when at last the break with England came, it 
found the states trained in self-government and able to con¬ 
duct their own affairs. In many cases the Revolution simply 
erased the name of the king from documents and institutions 
already American in spirit and character. The states either 
retained their old charters as constitutions, as in the case of 
Connecticut and Rhode Island, or framed new constitutions 

1 For the similarities existing among the various colonial govern¬ 
ments see Chapter XXXIX. 


THE ORIGIN OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


15 


based upon the experience of colonial government. The popular 
legislative assembly was everywhere retained. The common 
law of England continued in force, and the system of courts 
was retained in practically its pre-Revolution form. The basis 
of state government had been laid long before the Revolution, 
the new states simply accepting the basic political principles 
with which they, as colonies, had long been familiar. The 
defeat of English claims was only an incident in the irresistible 
progress of American democracy. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is one of the chief objects of government? 

2. What is the essential feature of the absolute monarchy? 

3. Give an example of a country once ruled by a “divine right” 

monarch. 

4. Explain the difference between an absolute and a limited monarchy. 

5. What is the distinction between a monarchy and a republic? 

6. Name some modern republics and explain their origin. 

7. Explain clearly the nature of political democracy, and show its 

relation to the monarchy and to the republic. 

8. What are the four reasons for the rise of democracy in early 

America? 

9. Trace the early application of the democratic idea in America. 

10. Where in America was the representative principle first applied? 
n. Explain the principle of the “separation of powers.” 

12. To what extent were the colonies self-governing states? 

13. Explain the effect of the Revolution upon American governments. 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter ii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. 1, chapters i and xii. 

3. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter i. 

4. McLaughlin, Steps in the Development of American Democracy, 

chapter i. 

5 . Turner, The Frontier in American History, chapter i. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What was the extent of democracy in the world a century ago? 

(Bryce, page 3.) 

2. Why is the study of democracy increasingly important? (Bryce, 

pages 4-5.) 


i6 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


3. What is the fundamental significance of local self-government? 

(Bryce, pages 131-133.) 

4. In what way has the advance of the frontier meant a steady move¬ 

ment away from the influence of Europe? (Turner, page 4.) 

5. How did the frontier promote individualism? (Turner, page 30.) 

6. What intellectual traits are fostered by pioneer life? (Turner, 

pages 37-38.) 

7. Explain the significance of the Virginia House of Burgesses. 

(McLaughlin, pages 11-13.) 

8. Discuss the character of the colonial governor. (Beard, pages 3-7.) 

9. What were the chief powers of the colonial legislature? (Beard, 

page 8.) 

10. Describe the colonial judiciary. (Beard, pages 12-14.) 

11. What was the extent of the suffrage in colonial times? (Beard, 

pages 8-10.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Illustrate the nature of government by tracing the origin and 

development of a club or society of which you are a member, 
or with which you are familiar. 

2. Early pioneer life in your community, with particular reference 

to social and economic conditions. (Consult local histories, 
or, where possible, interview an old settler in your section.) 

3. Origin and development of local government in your section. 

(Proceed as with Topic 2.) 

4. The origin of the first constitution of your State. 

5. A classification of the present-day governments of the world on 

the basis of their democratic character. 

II 

6. Genesis of the limited monarchy. (White, The Making of the 

English Constitution , pages 253-285.) 

7. Origin and development of Parliament. (White, The Making of 

the English Constitution , pages 298-322.) 

8. Origin and development of the English judiciary. (White, The 

Making of the English Constitution , pages 122-252.) 

9. Historical evolution of democracy. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, 

vol. 1, chapter iv.) 

10. Theoretical basis of democracy. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, 

vol. 1, chapter v.) 

11. Difficulty of defining the term “democracy.” (Bryce, Modern 

Democracies, vol. 1, chapter iii.) 


THE ORIGIN OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 17 

12. American political theory before the Revolution. (Beard, Read¬ 

ings in American Government and Politics, pages 14-16.) 

13. Contributions of the West to American Democracy. (Turner, 

The Frontier in American History, chapter ix.) 

14. Development of the General Court in Massachusetts. (Osgood, 

The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, vol. 1, pages 
141-166.) 

15. A Boston town meeting. (Beard, Readings in American Gov¬ 

ernment and Politics, pages n-13.) 

16. Local government in Virginia. (Bruce, Economic History of 

Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, vol. ii, chapter xx. Beard, 
Readings in American Government and Politics, pages 13-14.) 


CHAPTER III 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

22. Local versus national spirit. — The outbreak of the 
American Revolution proved that the colonies were so deeply 
attached to democracy that they were willing to fight for it. 
But the spirit which animated the Revolution was local, rather 
than national. The colonial protests which in 1776 reached 
their climax in the Declaration of Independence, had to do 
almost entirely with the rights of the colonies as individual 
states, and with the determination of those states to defend 
the principle of self-government. The war created thirteen 
practically independent states, among which the spirit of state 
sovereignty was much stronger than was the inclination to 
form an indissoluble union. The Revolution emphasized local 
and state interests rather than intercolonial cooperation, and 
however much the colonists appreciated local democracy in 
1776, they had yet to learn to think in terms of a national 
patriotism. A brief review of the attempts at union before 
1787 will serve to illustrate this important point. 

23 . Early attempts at union. — The first notable attempt 
at union was made in 1643, when Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, 
Connecticut, and New Haven formed a league, chiefly for the 
purpose of mutual defense. This league was in force for forty 
years, and rendered effective service in the Indian wars. 

In 1754 delegates from seven of the colonies met at Albany 
and adopted a plan of union proposed by Benjamin Franklin. 
The plan provided for a colonial army, the control of public 
lands, legislation affecting the general welfare, and the levying 
of taxes for intercolonial projects. In America Franklin’s 
plan was regarded with considerable favor, but it was never 

18 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 19 

given serious consideration by the British Parliament. The 
project fell through. 

Still later (1765) delegates from nine of the colonies met 
in the Stamp Act Congress, for the purpose of drawing up a 
protest against the taxation policy of the mother country. 

The two continental congresses may also be regarded as 
steps toward union. The first of these met in 1774 and con¬ 
cerned itself chiefly with a declaration of rights and grievances. 
The second (1775-1781) assumed revolutionary powers, and, 
with the consent of the people, exercised those powers during 
the greater part of the war period. 

24. The Articles of Confederation. — Nothing so clearly 
illustrates the sectional feeling of that era as the history of 
the Articles of Confederation. The Articles were adopted by 
the Second Continental Congress in 1777, but on account of 
the tardiness with which some of the states ratified them, they 
were not put into actual operation until March 1, 1781. By 
the terms of the Articles the states yielded some of their powers, 
the central government being given the right to declare war, 
borrow and coin money, establish post offices, and otherwise 
act for the general good. On the other hand, the Articles 
declared that “each state retains its sovereignty, freedom 
and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right 
which is not by this federation delegated to the United 
States.” 

Thus the new government was a confederation or league of 
states, rather than a federal government such as we have to-day. 
There was no national executive, and no judiciary. All author¬ 
ity was concentrated in a one-chambered congress, in which each 
state was represented by not fewer than two and not more than 
seven members. The delegates were subject to recall by the 
legislatures of their respective states. Each state had one vote, 
which was determined by a majority of the state’s delegates 
who were present when the vote was taken. 

25. Defects of the Confederation government. — The gov¬ 
ernment established by the Articles of Confederation had a 
number of grave defects. The fundamental difficulty was that 


20 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


the central government had no real authority or power. The 
Congress of the Confederation could reach individuals only 
through the action of the state governments, and these it 
could not coerce. Thus the Congress could declare war, and 
make requisitions upon the states for troops, but it could not 
enlist a single soldier. It could make laws, but had no power 
to enforce them. It could make treaties with foreign govern¬ 
ments, but could not oblige the states to respect those agree¬ 
ments. The central government could not levy taxes, but 
was obliged to accept whatever sums the states chose to con¬ 
tribute. The Confederation government could not even protect 
itself, or the states, against violence. It lacked force, and with¬ 
out the ability to exert force, a government is a government 
in name only. 

Not only did the central government fail to enlist the respect 
and support of the states, but it could not induce the states to re¬ 
spect or support one another. Congress had no power to regu¬ 
late either foreign or domestic commerce, each state being free 
to control the commercial activities of its citizens as it saw fit. 
In many cases the states engaged in trade wars, that is, they 
levied heavy duties upon the commerce of one another, or 
even refused to allow their citizens to buy goods from, or sell 
goods to, persons in neighboring states. Matters calling for 
unity of action and friendly cooperation, such as roads and 
canals, were ignored or neglected because of interstate jealousy. 
Whereas they should have united against the grave dangers 
of the period immediately following the war, the states often 
wasted time and energy in controversy and strife. 

26. Failure of the Confederation government. — The Con¬ 
federation government, established in 1781, functioned weakly 
during the remaining two years of the war, and then declined 
rapidly in power and influence. The defects of the Articles 
could not be remedied, for amendment was by unanimous con¬ 
sent only, and on every occasion that an amendment was pro¬ 
posed, one or more states refused their assent. 

According to John Fiske, the five years following the peace 
of 1783 constituted the most critical period in the history of 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 21 


the American people. Business was demoralized. Most of 
the states were issuing worthless paper money, and several of 
them passed laws impairing the obligation of contracts. In 
a movement known as Shay’s Rebellion (1786-1787), a portion 
of the debtor class of Massachusetts attempted to prevent the 
collection of debts. Paper money depreciated so greatly that 
in many places it ceased to pass as currency. The central 
government could not raise money to meet its ordinary expenses, 
and in 1783 Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia to escape 
the wrath of some eighty Pennsylvania soldiers whom it could 
not pay. 

Demoralization and civil strife at home were matched by 
ridicule and suspicion abroad. Congress could not pay the 
interest on the national debt. As early as 1783 our foreign 
credit was gone. Many European statesmen scoffed at the 
American government. France denied the existence of a general 
government in America. In England our diplomatic represent¬ 
atives suffered numerous humiliations. They were told, for 
example, that the British would not relinquish the western 
forts promised us by the Treaty of Paris until our national 
government was able to force the several American states to 
observe the treaty. 

27 . Obstacles to union. •— There are three important reasons 
why the states failed to draw together into a firm union before 
1787. 

In the first place, each state considered itself a sovereign 
body, and of governments above and beyond itself it was 
naturally suspicious. Many of the Americans had regarded 
the British government as a super-government, imposed against 
the will of the American people, and maintained in spite of 
their protests. The Dominion of New England, which, prior 
to the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, had been the 
nearest approach to union, was recalled with anger and in 
fear. This plan, forced upon the Americans in 1686 by the 
king, united eight of the colonies under the rule of Governor 
Andros. The union was dissolved by the Bloodless Revolution 
of 1688, but the arbitrary rule of Andros was long cited by 


22 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


the Americans as proof of the despotic character of any govern¬ 
ment beyond that of the individual states. 

A second explanation of the failure of the states to unite 
before 1787 is to be found in the social and economic differences 
existing among the states. Most of the inhabitants of New 
England were grouped in small, compact communities, and 
were engaged in shipbuilding and commerce, rather than in 
agriculture. There was an aristocratic group, but most of the 
people belonged to the middle class, and were simple and even 
severe in their tastes. In the middle colonies, on the other 
hand, most of the people were small farmers of mixed religious 
and racial character. Social classes existed to a considerable 
extent. Finally, the South was devoted to large plantations, 
cultivated by black slaves. Social lines were sharply drawn, 
and a genuine aristocratic class was already well formed. 

A third reason for the weakness of the cooperative spirit 
among the states is to be found in the lack of means of trans¬ 
portation and communication. Travel was mostly confined 
to natural waterways, or to rude paths over which horses 
proceeded with great difficulty. As late as 1800 it often took 
a horseman longer to go from Boston to New York than it 
now takes to go by rail from New York to San Francisco and 
back again. There were no railroads in those days, no tele¬ 
phones, no telegraph, and practically no postal service. Life was 
primarily rural, even on the seacoast. Most interests centered 
about the local community, or at farthest, about the colony 
or state. In many sections there was little exchange of products 
or of ideas. From the resulting isolation there developed a 
strong feeling of localism or provincialism. Ignorance and 
suspicion of intercolonial affairs gave rise to misunderstandings, 
and emphasized differences and disputes which in themselves 
were unimportant. Thus jealousy and hostility often sprang 
up where mutual confidence and cooperation were sorely 
needed. 

28 . Negative forces favoring union.—The failure of the 
Articles of Confederation is one of the most discouraging chap¬ 
ters in the development of American democracy. And yet 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 23 


it is an indispensable chapter, for it demonstrated, far more 
convincingly than could any theoretical argument, that there 
must be one great American nation rather than thirteen or 
more unrelated republics. Six years of practical experience 
with the Articles of Confederation taught the absolute necessity 
of a strong central government. The weaknesses of the Con¬ 
federation government constituted the most spectacular of the 
forces favoring union in 1787, and yet these forces were negative 
in character: the states accepted the Constitution of 1787 not 
so much because they were attracted by it, as because they 
saw little chance of getting along without it. 

29. Positive forces favoring union. — It should be noted, 
on the other hand, that for a long period previous to the adop¬ 
tion of the Constitution of 1787, certain positive forces were 
impelling the states toward union. In their Old World homes 
most of the settlers had occupied somewhat the same social 
position, and had been used to somewhat the same economic 
conditions. This common background constituted, in their 
New World homes, a unifying force of great importance. Long 
before 1787, too, the great majority of the settlers were of 
English descent, speaking the English language, and, except 
for the Roman Catholics of Maryland, professing some form 
of Protestantism. 

In spite of the numerous jealousies and rivalries among the 
various sections of the country, there were at work forces which 
tended to break down the spirit of localism or provincialism. 
Though the Revolution established thirteen separate states, 
the war had encouraged the Americans to feel that they were 
a single people with a common destiny. The soldiers of various 
sections had rubbed elbows with one another during the French 
and Indian wars, and during the Revolution. This had served 
to encourage a feeling of comradeship between the inhabitants 
of different communities. The population of the country was 
doubling every twenty years, and groups previously isolated 
were coming into contact with one another. Interstate coopera¬ 
tion was not only more necessary than ever before, but it was 
less difficult to bring about. Highways were being improved, 


24 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


and the postal service gradually extended, with the result that 
a more wholesome social life was made possible. 

In an economic sense the American people were increasingly 
interdependent. Especially on the frontier many communities 
were still economically self-sufficing, but to an increasing ex¬ 
tent the development of commerce and manufacturing was 
everywhere calling for a closer cooperation between various 
sections of the country. The Annapolis Convention of 1786, in¬ 
deed, was called for the purpose of promoting commercial coop¬ 
eration among the states. According to Professor Beard, the 
formation of the F ederal Constitution itself may in large measure 
be traced to the desire throughout the country for interstate 
cooperation in industry and commerce. 

30. American democracy in 1787. — The constitutional con¬ 
vention of 1787 expanded American democracy from a local 
idea to a political concept of national proportions. But though 
this was an important step forward, American democracy had 
not yet been fully developed. Religious freedom, indeed, 
had been guaranteed by the Constitution, but the suffrage 
was still narrowly restricted. The adoption of the Constitution 
was due primarily to negative forces; the full development 
of the positive forces, upon which the ultimate integrity of the 
union rests, was to be delayed for almost a century. The states 
technically abandoned state sovereignty when they accepted 
the Constitution of 1787, but not until the Civil War had been 
won was permanent union assured. Most important of all, 
American democracy was in 1787 only a political concept. 
There was at that time no suspicion that democracy was later 
to be expanded into a philosophy of life, applicable not only 
to purely governmental affairs, but to the individual in his 
economic and social relations as well. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Distinguish between local and national spirit in the Revolutionary 

period. 

2. Describe the first notable attempt at union. 

3. What plan of union was proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754? 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 25 

4. Name several other early attempts at union. 

5. Outline the character of the Articles of Confederation. 

6. What were the chief defects of the Confederation government? 

7. Describe the failure of the Confederation government. 

8. Outline clearly the three important reasons for the failure of the 

states to unite before 1787. 

9. Explain the phrase, “Negative forces favoring union.” 

10. To what extent was the constitutional convention of 1787 the 

result of positive forces? 

11. Explain clearly the statement that in 1787 American democracy 

had not yet been fully developed. 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter iii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Becker, Beginnings of the American People , chapter v. 

3. Fiske, The Critical Period of American History , chapter iv. 

4. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xix. 

5. McLaughlin, The Confederation and the Constitution, chapter xiii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. In what sense was Benjamin Franklin the first American? (Becker, 

pages 199-200.) 

2. Describe the commercial warfare carried on by the several states 

during the critical period. (Fiske, pages 144-147.) 

3. Explain why American credit in Europe failed during the critical 

period. (Fiske, pages I 55 -IS 7 -) 

4. Describe the attempts to patch up the Confederation government. 

(McLaughlin, chapter xiii.) 

5. Explain the statement that “division is sometimes the prelude to 

more effective union.” (Becker, pages 189-191.) 

6. What did the Alexandria Conference of 1785 accomplish? (Guitteau, 

page 215.) 

7. What was the Virginia plan? (Guitteau, page 217.) 

8. What was the New Jersey plan? (Guitteau, page 217.) 

9. What was the “Great Compromise”? (Guitteau, page 218.) 

10. Wha ; t was the Three-Fifths Compromise? (Guitteau, pages 

218-219.) 

11. Describe the opposition to the ratification of the Constitution 

(Guitteau, pages 222-224.) 


26 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Topics for Investigation and Report 

i 

1. Trace the beginnings of railroad transportation in your section, 

and describe the effect of improved methods of transportation 
upon the ability of different communities in your section to 
cooperate with one another. (Consult local histories.) 

2. To what extent does the newspaper help you to understand the 

character and ideals of individuals beyond your community? 

3. Contrast the telephone and the postal service as influencing the 

development of the cooperative spirit in the city. In rural 
districts. 

4. To what extent would improved methods of transportation and 

communication lead to a closer cooperation between the rural 
and urban districts in your state? 

5. To what extent has the economic interdependence of different 

members of your community led to a better understanding? 
To a closer identity of interests? 

TI 

6. Difficulties of travel in colonial times. (Crawford, Social Life 

in Old New England, chapter x.) 

7. Postal facilities in the colonial period. (Bogart, Economic History 

of the United States, pages 82-83.) 

8. Diversity of economic interests among the colonies. (Bogart 

and Thompson, Readings in the Economic History of the United 
States, pages 29-42.) 

9. Union under the Continental Congresses. (Beard, American 

Government and Politics, pages 21-25.) 

10. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. (McLaugh¬ 

lin, The Confederation and the Constitution, pages 187-190.) 

11. The work of the Constitutional Convention. (Beard, American 

Government and Politics, pages 44-53. See also any other stand¬ 
ard text on American history or government.) 

12. Madison’s criticism of the Articles of Confederation. (Beard, 

Readings in American Government and Politics, pages 38-43.) 

13. Hamilton’s plea for a strong national government. (Beard, 

Readings in American Government and Politics, pages 47-49.) 

14. The influence of economic interests upon the Constitution of 

1787. (Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution 
of the United States, pages 324-325.) 

15. The outlook for American democracy in 1789. (Bryce, Modern 

Democracies, vol. ii, chapter xxxviii.) 


CHAPTER IV 


ESSENTIALS OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL 
GOVERNMENT 

31 . The aim of this chapter. — The form of government 
established in this country by the Constitution of 1787 is known 
as a republic. A republic may be defined as a representative 
democracy, or, in the popular sense of the term, simply as a 
democracy. Now, to point out that a government is demo¬ 
cratic does not necessarily mean that it is a sound government. 
Granting that self-government is morally right, the fate of a 
democracy will depend, partly upon the character of the people, 
and partly upon the nature of the governmental machinery 
through which that people expresses its will. The proof of 
democracy is in its workings. The aim of this chapter is not 
to pass judgment upon democracy, but rather to outline the 
essential characteristics of American constitutional government. 
When this background has been secured we shall be in a position 
to begin a detailed study of applied democracy, to point out 
its merits, to call attention to its defects, and to consider how 
and to what extent it may be improved. 

32 . Strength. — American constitutional government is a 
strong government. The weaknesses of the Articles of Con¬ 
federation were avoided in framing the Constitution of 1787. 
Whereas the Confederation government was really headless, the 
Constitution of 1787 provided for a strong executive. The Con¬ 
federation Congress could not levy taxes, but the Congress of the 
United States has adequate powers in this regard. There can be 
no recurrence of one of the chief financial troubles of the Revo¬ 
lutionary period, for at the present time the several states 
may neither coin money nor emit bills of credit. The Federal 
government has exclusive control of foreign affairs, so that no 

27 


28 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


state may individually enter into any agreement with a foreign 
power. The Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the 
land, and no state action may contradict it. Unity has given 
us strength, and great crises, such as the Civil War and the 
World War, have ended by increasing that strength. 

33. The check and balance system. — A striking character¬ 
istic feature of American constitutional government is the check 
and balance system. By this system we mean all those consti¬ 
tutional provisions which divide and subdivide governmental 
power among various sets of public agents. 1 

This division of powers is threefold. First, there is a division 
of power between the Federal government and the govern¬ 
ments of the several states. The states are obliged to act in 
concert on most questions involving the nation as a whole, 
but the Federal Constitution safeguards the rights of the states 
by reserving to them all powers not specifically delegated to 
the Federal government. Second, in both Federal and state 
governments, power is still further distributed among the 
executive, legislative, and judicial branches in such a way that 
each branch constitutes a check upon the other two. Third, 
in both Federal and state governments there is a division of 
power within each of the three branches of government. Thus 
both the President of the United States and the governors of 
the various states are at least partially controlled by sub¬ 
ordinate executive officials, while in the legislative branch of 
both Federal and state governments the upper and lower 
houses constitute a check upon one another. In the case of 
both Federal and state judicial systems there is a division of 
jurisdiction. 

34. The check and balance system secures stability. — Amer¬ 
ican government is not only strong, it is stable. This stability 
is due chiefly to the admirable way in which different govern¬ 
mental agents are balanced against one another. The check 
and balance system renders us safe from the danger of anarchy, 
for though ultimate control is vested in the people, sufficient 

1 For a fuller discussion of the check and balance system see Chap¬ 
ter XXXIX. 


AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 


29 


powers are entrusted to the governmental mechanism to protect 
it against popular passion. The system likewise protects us 
against despotism. So long as the Constitution endures, neither 
the Federal government nor the governments of the states may 
destroy each other. The undue concentration of political power 
is likewise rendered difficult by the division of power between 
the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of both Federal 
and state governments. 

The significance of a properly applied check and balance 
system appears clearly when we compare our government with 
that of various other republics. In many of the ancient repub¬ 
lics, for example, the powers of government were so unequally 
and so indefinitely divided that republican .government degen¬ 
erated either to despotism or to anarchy. Within the last 
century many Latin-American republics have modeled their 
governments after ours, and yet some of these republics are 
constantly threatened by either revolution or despotism. The 
explanation of this, according to Elihu Root, is that these 
republics have adapted our check and balance system so care¬ 
lessly that they find it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain 
a really stable government. 1 

35 . The rights of the individual. — We have not purchased 
strength and stability at the expense of personal freedom, 
for both Federal and state constitutions specifically safeguard 
the rights of the individual. The fundamental guarantees 
set forth in the Magna Charta, the Petition of Right, and the 
Bill of Rights were cherished by the American colonists, and 
in 1791 they formed the basis of the first ten Amendments to 
the Federal Constitution. Provisions similarly designed to safe¬ 
guard individual rights are found in the constitution of every 
state in the Union. 2 From the beginning of our national 

1 Here we are pointing out the fundamental merits of the check 
and balance system; later (Chapters XXXIV, 'XXXV, and XXXVI) 
we shall have occasion to notice some of the disadvantages of this 
system. 

2 For an enumeration of these rights, see the first ten Amendments 
to the Federal Constitution, Appendix. Consult also the Bill of Rights 
in the constitution of your state. 


30 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


history a fundamental principle of American government has 
been to allow the individual as much freedom of thought and 
action as is compatible with the general welfare. 

36. Control by the people. — Under American constitutional 
government, sovereignty resides with the people as a whole, 
though the people act through their chosen representatives. 
There is no power in American government beyond that created 
or permitted by the people themselves. The suffrage, so nar¬ 
rowly restricted in the eighteenth century, has since widened 
to include the great majority of adults, both male and female. 
Elections are frequent, so that ill-chosen officials may not long 
abuse their position. The Initiative, the Referendum and the 
Recall are methods of popular control which in many sections 
are spreading. Constitutional amendment in the United States 
is not easy; on the other hand, if any considerable percentage 
of the voters evince a sustained desire for change, an amend¬ 
ment is the normal result. 1 

37. Efficiency. — The division of functions between the 
Federal and state governments on the one hand, and between 
state and local governments on the other, provides a solid 
foundation for the economical administration of government. 

The Federal government attends to most matters which 
are of national importance, and which cannot properly be 
looked after by the states individually. For example, foreign 
relations, the postal service, and the coinage of money, are 
Federal functions. The separation of Federal and state func¬ 
tions is not always clear, but such matters as contracts, property 
rights, crime, and education are probably best administered 
by the state. There is, similarly, no sharp dividing line between 
the functions of state and local governments, but at present 
it appears that the local authorities are the most efficient ad¬ 
ministrators of roads and bridges, water and paving, the ele¬ 
mentary schools, and similar concerns. 

The essential economy of this threefold division of functions 

1 In Part IV of the text we shall consider the dangers of an over- 
extension of popular control; here it is only necessary to point out 
that American government is essentially government by the people. 


AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 


31 

is that each of the three sets of officials tends to concern itself 
with those matters with which it is best acquainted, and which 
are most advantageously administered by it. 

38. Unity. — The earlier European critics of our government 
declared that the division of powers between Federal and state 
governments would encourage civil strife. It is true that this 
division of powers has resulted in a decentralized rather than in 
a centralized form of government. It is equally true that the 
quarrel over states’ rights was the fundamental cause of the 
Civil War. But that war settled the question of states’ rights 
once and for all, and there has never again been any serious 
question as to the proper status of states and Union. Ameri¬ 
can democracy has been found compatible with unity. 

Nor has the decentralized character of American government 
kept us from presenting a united front in foreign wars. The 
concentration of war powers in the hands of President Lincoln 
during the Civil War was matched by the temporary dictator¬ 
ship wielded by President Wilson during the World War. In 
both cases, the national executive became, for the period of the 
emergency, as powerful and as efficient as the executive of a 
highly centralized monarchy. This ability to exhibit unity of 
control and singleness of purpose in war-time enables us to 
claim for our form of government one of the most important 
assets of the centralized monarchy. 

39. The spirit of progress. — Certainly one test of good 
government is the extent to which it renders the masses of 
the people happy and prosperous. American government has 
not yet exhausted the possibilities of helpfulness, but one of 
the chief aims of our political system is to encourage the in¬ 
dividual in every pursuit which is legal and honorable. Lord 
Bryce has called America the land of Hope, because in spite of 
the defects of American government, a feeling of buoyancy and 
optimism is characteristic of our political institutions. Amer¬ 
ica might also be called the land of Sane Endeavor, for we lend 
force and justification to our optimism by consistently working 
for the attainment of our ideals. To improve every condition 
of American life, and yet to work in harmony with the 


32 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


principles of constitutional government, that is our ideal. 
Progress must come through authorized channels, for, as Abra¬ 
ham Lincoln has said, “a majority, held in restraint by consti¬ 
tutional checks and limitations, and always changing with the 
deliberate changes of popular opinion and sentiment, is the 
only true sovereign of a free people, and whoever rejects it 
does of necessity fly to anarchy or despotism.” 

Questions on the Text 

1. Upon what does the fate of a democracy depend? 

2. Contrast the strength of our present government with the strength 

of the government established by the Articles of Confederation. 

3. What is the check and balance system? Explain clearly. 

4. Show how the check and balance system renders American gov¬ 

ernment stable. 

5. Why is stability not a feature of some of the Latin-American 

republics which have adapted our check and balance system? 

6. What can be said as to the rights of the individual under Amer¬ 

ican constitutional government? 

7. To what extent is American government subject to popular control? 

8. How does American government provide for a solid foundation 

for the economical administration of government? 

9. What charge did the earlier European critics bring against Amer¬ 

ican government? Has history substantiated or disproved this 
charge? Explain. 

10. Compare the American democracy with a monarchy with respect 

to efficiency in war-time. 

11. Why may America be called the land of Hope? To what extent 

may it properly be called the land of Sane Endeavor? 

12. What did Lincoln say as to the only true sovereign of a free people? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter iv. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter viii. 

3. Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. ii, chapters c and cii. 

4. Cleveland and Schafer, Democracy in Reconstruction, pages 48-66. 

5. Root, Addresses on Government and Citizenship, pages 98-117. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1, What is meant by the doctrine of limited government? (Beard, 
pages 145-147.) 


AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 


33 

2 . What are the two classes of constitutional limitations upon the 

Federal government? (Beard, pages 147-148.) 

3. Describe the position of the judiciary in American government. , 

(Beard, pages 164-165.) 

4. What was the attitude of the republics of Greece and Rome toward 

the individual? (Root, page 98.) 

5. Contrast this attitude with the “Anglo-Saxon idea.” (Root, 

pages 98-99.) 

6. Why is it important that a constitution be a written document? 

(Cleveland and Schafer, pages 54-55.) 

7. Why is it dangerous to suspend the constitutional guarantees of 

personal liberty? (Root, pages 114-115.) 

8. What faults have philosophers and popular writers generally at¬ 

tributed to democratic governments? (Bryce, pages 613-614.) 

9. To what extent are these faults attributable to American democ¬ 

racy? (Bryce, pages 614-629.) 

10. Explain the capacity of our government to develop great vigor. 
(Bryce, pages 650-652.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Make a study of a club or society of which you are a member, 

or with which you are familiar. To what extent does its organi¬ 
zation illustrate the check and balance system? 

2 . Classify local or state officials in your commonwealth, in order 

to show differences in term and differences in the method of 
choosing them. To what extent do these differences constitute 
a check and balance system? 

3. Make a list of the guarantees of personal liberty which are con¬ 

tained in the constitution of your state. Compare this list 
with similar lists made from the constitutions of other states. 
Compare the list with the first ten Amendments to the Federal 
Constitution. 

4. Methods by which the constitution of your state may be amended. 

5. Make a list of the chief public activities in your community or 

section. Which are local, which state, and which Federal? 
Do you believe that any of these functions could be more ad¬ 
vantageously performed by some other division of government 
than that which is now performing it? Give reasons. 

n 

6. “Why democracy is best.” (Tufts, The Real Business of Living , 

chapter xxxvii.) 


34 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


7. Philosophy of the American constitutional system. (Beard, 

Readings in American Government and Politics , pages 49-53.) 

8. The relation of Federal and state governments in the United 

States. (Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, 
chapter xxi.) 

9. Framework of American government. (Bryce, Modern Democ¬ 

racies, vol. ii, chapter xxxix.) 

10. The check and balance system. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, 

vol. ii, chapter lxiii. See also any standard text on American 
government.) 

11. The theory of the separation of powers. (Beard, Readings in 

American Government and Politics, pages 138-140.) 

12. The supremacy of Federal law. (Beard, Readings in American 

Government and Politics, pages 140-143.) 

13. The meaning of liberty. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. i, 

chapter vi.) 

14. The meaning of equality. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. i, 

chapter vii.) 

15. A brief comparison of the American and European systems of 

government. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. i, 
chapter xxv.) 

16. American democracy contrasted with other democratic govern¬ 

ments. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. ii, pages 446-452.) 

17. Democracy compared with undemocratic forms of government. 

(Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. ii, chapter lxxiv.) 

18. Efficiency of American democracy in the World War. (West, 

The War and the New Age, chapter x.) 


CHAPTER V 


THE PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

40. No government is perfect. — All government is a com¬ 
promise, in that it is adopted or created for the purpose of 
harmonizing the interests of the individual with the interests 
of the group. The types of government are numerous, varying 
with the character of the group, and with the particular con¬ 
ditions under which it exists. But we know of no government 
which is perfect: all have shortcomings, some very serious, 
others less so. There is nothing to be gained, therefore, by 
debating whether or not American government is imperfect.' 
A much more profitable question is this: What are the faults 
of American democracy, and how may they be eliminated or 
minimized? The most constructive work which the American 
citizen is called upon to do is to grasp the character of the 
problems confronting his country, and then to attempt their 
solution. 

41. The widening circle of problems. — The last two cen¬ 
turies have constituted an age of rapid change and development 
in all of the major phases of civilization. There have been 
rapid shifts in population, particularly in the younger countries 
of the world. Important discoveries have greatly increased our 
knowledge of natural science; epoch-making inventions have 
revolutionized manufacturing, commerce and transportation. 
In every civilized land there have been readjustments of po¬ 
litical beliefs, as well as important changes in intellectual, 
religious, and social standards. Such an age is peculiarly an 
age of problems: it is a period of change and stress, a time of 
readjustment, of adaptation to changed conditions, of growth, 
and of development. 

We in America are confronted by an ever widening circle 
of problems, and this chiefly for two reasons. In the first 

35 


36 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

place, we have felt the impact of those forces which for the 
last two centuries have been creating problems the world over. 
In the second place, the whole period of our national develop¬ 
ment has fallen within this age of change and readjustment. 
This means that we have had to grapple with the problems 
common to all modern countries during a period in which the 
origin and development of American democracy have been 
creating purely domestic problems. These facts at least par¬ 
tially explain the growing importance of the problems of Ameri¬ 
can democracy during the past century. 

42. Effect of an enlarged social conscience. — Many of the 
issues of contemporary American life have come into prominence 
because we have enlarged the concept of democracy within the 
last century. The term democracy has come to imply, not 
merely a form of government, but actually a philosophy of 
'life stressing justice and happiness for the individual, whether 
in his political, social, or economic capacity. The more human¬ 
itarian our view, the more situations calling for remedy fall 
within it. Child labor, to give a single example, was not gen¬ 
erally considered an evil a century ago, but to-day an enlarged 
social conscience condemns it. 

43. Necessity of avoiding paternalism.—The solution of 
many national problems implies an extension of government 
control. Now, it is not generally appreciated that while an 
enlarged social conscience has increased the number of our 
problems, the individualistic strain in the American nature 
resists that paternalism which at present appears necessary to 
an effective treatment of certain problems. We are behind 
Germany in legislation designed to prevent industrial accidents, 
lessen the evils of unemployment, and otherwise protect the 
worker against the risks of industry. But Germany has built 
up this system of social insurance by restricting personal liberty, 
and by greatly extending the power of government over the 
individual. The great task confronting our government is to do 
as much for the individual as any paternalistic government, 
without endangering his rights by an undue extension of gov¬ 
ernmental control. 


THE PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


37 


44 . The complexity of our problems. — The mistake is 
sometimes made of thinking that national issues can be nicely 
defined, and separated from one another. The human mind 
has its limitations, and we are prone to emphasize the outline 
and content of particular problems in order to perceive their 
essential character the more clearly. But though this is per¬ 
missible for purposes of study, we must bear in mind that 
the questions which we are to discuss are connected with one 
another in a most baffling way. To understand the admin¬ 
istration of charity, for example, we ought to know the social, 
economic, and political background of the community under 
observation. The thorough study of this background would 
lead us to crime, education and other problems, which in turn 
have their connections with issues still further removed from 
the immediate problem of charity. The thorough understand¬ 
ing of a specific question thus implies consideration of many 
inter-related questions. Likewise, the solution of a particular 
question affects and is affected by the whole mass of related 
phenomena. 

45 . Importance of the economic background. — It would 
be unwise, perhaps, to claim that any definite group of problems 
is of greater importance than any other group. But at least 
we may say that some problems are primary in origin, while 
others appear to be secondary, i.e . derived from those 
called primary. In the chapters which follow, the attempt 
has been made to arrange the groups of problems with some 
regard to their primary or secondary origin. Probably the 
most fundamental problems which face us to-day are those of 
economic organization. Properly to understand these problems 
the student must first grasp the essential facts of American 
industry. We shall begin our study of the problems of American 
democracy, therefore, with a survey of the economic life of the 
nation. Only after we have mastered the principles upon which 
American industry is based, shall we be in a position to solve 
the problems which arise directly from the nature of our eco¬ 
nomic organization. 

46 . Industrial reform. — Our industrial life is so clearly 
based upon certain fundamental institutions, such as private 


38 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

property, free contract, and free competition, that an industrial 
“system” is said to exist. Certain great evils, notably poverty, 
have accompanied the development of this system. We shall 
discuss a number of programs designed to eliminate these evils. 
The doctrine of single tax is of interest as advocating the aboli¬ 
tion or confiscation of land value. The cooperative conduct 
of industry is of increasing importance of late years. We 
must also reckon with socialism as a movement which seeks 
the redistribution of wealth. Under the general head of social¬ 
ism we shall have occasion to notice a small but active group 
known as the Industrial Workers of the World, and the larger, 
though related, group which recently conducted a socialist 
experiment in Russia. The discussion of socialism completed, 
we shall sum up the attitude of American democracy toward 
the whole problem of industrial reform. 

47 . Social problems. — Of the social problems which grow 
out of a bad economic situation, none is more vital than the 
fostering of peace and good will between labor and capital. 
Following the discussion of industrial relations, we shall have 
occasion to notice a whole series of social questions which 
have either been derived from, or accentuated by, the rapid 
industrialization of our country. Grave questions arise in 
connection with immigration, health, and the cityward drift. 
The consideration of the problems of the city in turn directs 
attention to the necessity of a normal rural life, and to the 
importance of safeguarding the American home. Dependency 
is a familiar problem, but one which, in the light of an awakened 
community spirit, is now being studied from new and interest¬ 
ing angles. Last among social problems is the fundamental 
matter of education. It is not too much to claim that the 
ultimate fate of American democracy depends, to a great 
extent, upon the vigor and intelligence with which we improve 
and extend our educational system. 

48 . Relation of government to business. — Since our mate¬ 
rial well-being rests upon an economic basis, the public has a 
vital interest in business. The rise of great corporations and 
the necessity of safeguarding the public from monopolistic 


THE PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


39 


abuses make necessary a careful examination into the relation 
of government to business. We shall meet with this question: 
Shall the government regulate, or actually own, businesses of 
vital importance to the public? Equally knotty, but fully as 
interesting, is the tariff question. Should Congress tax foreign 
goods entering this country, and, if so, upon what principles 
should this tax be determined? This will bring us to the gen¬ 
eral problem of taxation, a subject to which the American 
people will probably devote an increasing amount of attention 
in the next few decades. The question of conserving our natural 
resources must also be discussed. Last in this group of problems 
may be mentioned the question of money and banking. In 
discussing this important subject we shall notice, among other 
things, the interesting Federal reserve system, which, it is 
hoped, will protect us from panics in the future. 

49. Problems in effective government. — The economist has 
good reason for declaring that the getting of a living is one of 
the most fundamental concerns in life; on the other hand, no 
people can long get a comfortable living without the aid of a 
helpful system of government. Government must be made 
effective. This introduces us to another series of problems. 
First of all, who shall share in government? And how may 
we improve the methods by which we select the agents of 
government? How may corruption and inefficiency be elimin¬ 
ated from American government? What is the significance of 
the Initiative, the Referendum, and the Recall? 

These questions must prove of fascinating interest to those 
who think of democracy as a living institution which is con¬ 
stantly growing, developing, adapting itself to changed con¬ 
ditions. 

50. What is the promise of American life? — Rich in natural 
resources, ample in extent, encouraging to man’s helpful efforts, 
America fulfills the first condition of national greatness. Intel¬ 
ligent and industrious, law-abiding and devoted to the building 
of homes, our population fulfills the second condition. 

Here we have all the raw materials out of which to build 
a great nation. Already we have made marked contributions 


40 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


to civilization, and yet it should not be forgotten that our 
chief claim to national greatness rests upon the promise which 
we show of being able to perfect American democracy. 

To what extent will this promise actually be realized? As 
a nation we are yet young, as a people we have scarcely begun 
the greatest experiment in democracy which the world has 
ever seen. Shall we endure, shall we attain to a half-success, 
shall we succeed gloriously? 

Much depends upon the extent to which each of us assumes 
the responsibilities of citizenship. Those who have gone before 
us conquered a wilderness, expanded and preserved the Union. 
But it is not for us complacently to accept the result. Much 
has been done, but much more remains to be done. Our goal 
is the greatest possible perfection of our economic, social and 
political life. Each age may be said to have its peculiar burdens 
and responsibilities: the prime task of the colonist was to foster 
the tender shoot of democracy; that of the western pioneer 
was to fashion homes out of a wilderness; the burden of our 
generation is to grapple with the present-day problems of Ameri¬ 
can democracy. Without a high sense of personal responsi¬ 
bility, coupled with an intelligent and consistent effort, we can 
never reach the high goal admittedly possible. 

51. The point of view in problem study. — To see American 
democracy and to see it as a whole should be our aim through¬ 
out the remainder of this book. Now this is not easy. The dan¬ 
ger is that the unwary student will interpret the large amount of 
space devoted to “problems ” as meaning that American life 
is preeminently unsettled and defective. This is a temptation 
to be guarded against. Though we shall uncover many de¬ 
fects, it should be remembered that we are predominantly a 
normal, healthy, prosperous people. But our virtues demand 
our attention less urgently than do our defects. If we seem 
to be overconcerned with the defects of American life, the 
student should not conclude that American life is primarily 
defective. Rather, he ought to realize that it is precisely 
because a situation involves a problem that our attention is 
challenged. 


THE PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


41 


Nor should problems be looked upon as something to be 
ashamed of. Where life is dull and civilization static, there 
are relatively few problems; where life is progressive and civili¬ 
zation steadily advancing, problems are numerous and pressing. 
Problems imply adjustment, development, the desire for im¬ 
provement and advancement. They are signs of progress, the 
growing pains of civilization. If we bear this in mind, we shall 
be in a fair position to see American democracy in true perspec¬ 
tive, without undue distortion of our viewpoint, and without 
prejudice to our judgment. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Why is there nothing to be gained by debating whether or not 

American democracy is imperfect? 

2. Why has the circle of our problems been steadily widening during 

the last century? 

3. Trace the relation between an enlarged social conscience and the 

number of problems confronting us. 

4. What is one danger of paternalism? 

5. Give a definite example to illustrate the complexity of our modern 

problems. 

6. Discuss the importance of the economic background in problem 

study. 

7. What problems may be included under the term ‘ 'industrial 

reform ”? 

8. What problems arise in connection with public interest in business? 

9. Name some of the problems arising in connection with the need 

for effective government. 

10. What is the importance of individual responsibility in studying 

the problems of American democracy? 

11. Outline clearly the point of view to be maintained in studying 

these problems. 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter v. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. ii, chapters ci, cxiv, 

cxix, and cxxii. 

3. Dunn, The Community and the Citizen, pages vii-xii. 

4. McLaughlin, Steps in the Development of American Democracy, 

chapter viii. 


42 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What, according to Lord Bryce, are the essential intellectual traits 

of the masses of the American people? (Bryce, pages 825-826.) 

2. Lord Bryce says that “there are elements in the life of the United 

States which may well make a European of any class prefer to 
dwell there rather than in the land of his birth.” What are 
these elements? (Bryce, pages 870-873.) 

3. What comment does Lord Bryce make upon the quality of humor 

in the American character? (Bryce, page 876.) 

4. What three advantages does the United States have over European 

countries in the matter of grappling with modern problems? 
(Bryce, page 912.) 

5. Explain the statement that “Democracy rests on faith.” McLaugh¬ 

lin, pages 181-182.) 

6. What is meant by the statement that “Democracy is fundamentally 

a matter of human relationships”? (McLaughlin, pages 189-190.) 

7. What, according to Lord Bryce, are the four chief defects of Amer¬ 

ican democracy? (Bryce, page 632.) 

8. What are the essential qualities which civic education should aim 

to cultivate? (Dunn, pages xi-xii.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Make a list of the problems which in any way affect you as a 

citizen in the community. List these problems in the order 
in which they occur to you, or are discovered by you. Comment 
upon the confused and disorderly appearance of the problems 
so listed. 

2. Classify the problems on your list according as they are economic, 

social or political. 

3. Classify the problems on your list according as they are local, 

state or national. 

4. Comment upon the complexity and inter-relationship of the prob¬ 

lems so classified. 

5. What agencies, public, semi-public, or private, are studying the 

problems on your list? 

6. What difference of interest do the citizens of your community 

show in local, state and national problems? 


n 

7. Defects of democratic government the world over. (Bryce, Modern- 
Democracies , vol. ii, pages 452-454.) 


THE PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 43 

8. The background of the problems of American democracy. (Mer- 

riam, American Political Ideas, chapter i.) 

9. The hindrances to good citizenship. (Bryce, Hindrances to Good 

Citizenship.) 

10. The promise of American -life. (Croly, The Promise of American 

Life, chapter i.) 

11. Attitude of the individual in a democracy. (Hughes, Conditions 

of Progress in Democratic Government.) 

12. The power of ideals in American history. (Adams, The Power 

of Ideals in American History.) 

13. Ideals of citizenship. (Woodburn and Moran, The Citizen and 

the Republic, chapter xx.) 

14. The future of democracy. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. ii, 

chapter lxxx.) 


PART II —AMERICAN ECONOMIC 
PROBLEMS 


A. Economics or American Industry 
CHAPTER VI 

THE NATURE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY 

52. Magnitude of American industry. — In colonial times 
the major part of American industry was concentrated along 
the Atlantic seaboard; to-day it extends over a large part of 
the continent. A century and a half ago our industrial system 
was still a relatively simple one, giving rise to few pressing 
problems of national importance; at the present time it is a 
vast and complicated affair, closely bound up with many of 
the most vital problems which confront American democracy. 
The activities which are commonly grouped under the head of 
“American industry” are so numerous and so varied that a 
description of all of them would carry us beyond the limits 
of this chapter. Nevertheless, it is important that we secure 
some understanding of these activities. A few pages may 
profitably be spent, therefore, in discussing certain basic facts 
of American industry. 

53. Favorable location of the United States. — Let us com¬ 
mence by noting that the location of the United States is favor¬ 
able to the development of industry. Of the two American 
continents, the northern has the greater natural advantages. 
Each continent is roughly in the form of a triangle with the 
apex or smaller end pointing southward, but whereas the larger 
end of the South American triangle is within the tropic zone 
and only the tapering end is within the more favorable temper¬ 
ate zone, the greater part of the North American triangle is 

44 


THE NATURE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY 


45 


within the temperate zone. With regard to location for world 
trade the northern continent again has the advantage: the 
ports of South America face a relatively empty ocean on the 
west and the little-developed continent of Africa on the east; 
the ports of North America, in addition to being more numer¬ 
ous and more suitable for commerce than those of the southern 
continent, face the teeming Orient on the west, and the great 
markets of Europe on the east. Moreover, the United States 
occupies the choicest portions of the North American conti¬ 
nent. Our neighbor Canada has a cold and snow-bound 
frontier on her north, while on our south Mexico and the 
Central American countries lie near the tropics. The heart of 
temperate America, on the other hand, is included within the 
territory of the United States. 

54. Population. — Scarcely less important than the favorable 
location of the United States is the character of the people 
occupying the country. From less than four million in 1790, 
our population has increased so rapidly that in 1920 there 
were 105,710,620 people within the bounds of continental 
United States. As the population has increased, it has spread 
over the Appalachians, into the great Mississippi basin, and 
westward to the Pacific Ocean. Accompanying the increase 
and westward spread of the population has come a greater 
variety of racial types. Although our population was varied 
in colonial times, the great majority of the settlers were from 
the British Isles and northwestern Europe. In the latter part 
of the nineteenth century immigration from northern Europe 
declined and more and more immigrants began to come from 
southern and southeastern Europe. So universal has been the 
attraction of America, that our present population includes 
elements from every important country in the world. From 
the industrial standpoint, the dominant characteristics of this 
composite American people are energy and versatility. 

55. National wealth. — Generations of industrious people 
have helped to make the United States the wealthiest nation 
in the world. It has been estimated that in 1850 our national 
wealth amounted to $8,000,000,000. By 1900 the remarkable 


46 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

progress of American industry had increased this figure to more 
than $88,000,000,000. In 1912 our wealth was probably in 
excess of $180,000,000,000. Industrial and financial disturb¬ 
ances during the period of the World War make later estimates 
hazardous, nevertheless it is interesting to note that in 1921 
the wealth of the United States was estimated as being between 
$350,000,000,000 and $400,000,000,000. According to this esti¬ 
mate, the wealth of this country exceeded, in 1921, the combined 
wealth of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium. 
In weighing the value of this comparison, however, we must 
take into consideration the heavy destruction of wealth in 
western Europe because of the World War. 

56. What the American people are doing. — A large per¬ 
centage of the inhabitants of the United States are engaged 
in some form of productive work. According to the most 
recent estimates there are approximately fifty million persons, 
male and female, over ten years of age, engaged in gainful 
occupations in this country. Of these about fourteen million 
are engaged in agriculture and allied industries, while more 
than eleven million are busy in manufacturing pursuits. Almost 
four million are found in some form of trade, and another four 
million are employed in domestic and personal service. Trans¬ 
portation, clerical work, and professional callings utilize the 
services of several additional million. The great majority of 
those employed in American industry are men, although the 
number of women in industry is steadily increasing. Children 
have been found in industrial pursuits since colonial times, but 
of recent years there is a growing movement to restrict or 
prohibit the employment of children in gainful occupations. 

57. Forests and minerals. — The natural resources of the 
United States play a large part in our industrial life. One 
fourth of the territory of the United States is still covered 
with timber. We are abundantly supplied with coal and iron, 
the two most important industrial minerals. Our coal deposits 
outrank, both in quantity and in quality, those of any other 
country. Iron is found in most of the states in the Union, 
the high-grade deposits of the Lake Superior area being of 


THE NATURE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY 


47 

special importance. We produce more than half of the world’s 
supply of copper, which, after coal and iron, is the most im¬ 
portant industrial mineral. Our supply of petroleum and 
natural gas is large, and in spite of the waste which has charac¬ 
terized our use of these important commodities, our production 
of both is still great. Gold, silver, zinc, lead and phosphates 
are produced in the United States in large quantities. Indeed, 
we have ample supplies of practically all of the minerals of 
importance to industry, except platinum, tin, and nickel. 

58. Agriculture. — Until very recently, at least, agriculture 
has been by far our most important industry. Of the two 
billion acres comprising continental United States, approxi¬ 
mately half are under cultivation. In most sections of the 
country the quality of the soil is good, and rainfall is ample. 
We have long led the world in the value of farm crops grown. 
Our production of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, and dairy 
products totals an enormous figure. The steady enclosure of 
lands formerly used for grazing stock is restricting our pro¬ 
duction of food animals, but we are still important as a producer 
of meats. Most of the world’s tobacco is grown in this country. 
The world’s supply of cotton is derived mainly from southern 
United States. Finally, our soil is of such variety, and our 
climate so diversified, that the danger of a general crop failure 
is slight. A loss in one part of the country is almost certain 
to be offset by good crops in another. 

59. Manufacturing. — In colonial times American man¬ 
ufactures were subjected to more or less restraint by Great 
Britain, but after the Revolution these industries entered 
upon a period of free and rapid development. Modern ma¬ 
chinery was introduced rapidly after 1800, large scale pro¬ 
duction was developed, transportation was fostered, and larger 
and larger markets were supplied with the products of Ameri¬ 
can manufacturers. Particularly since the Civil War has the 
importance of our manufactures increased. This increase has 
been due chiefly to the large scale production of foodstuffs, 
including meats and flour; textiles; iron and steel products; 
shoes; chemicals; and agricultural machinery. According to 


48 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

recent census figures it would appear that we are passing from 
a predominantly agricultural life to a stage in which manu¬ 
facturing is of relatively greater importance. 

60. Transportation and communication. — The physical geog¬ 
raphy of the United States encourages the development of ade¬ 
quate means of transportation and communication. The St. 
Lawrence-Great Lakes system gives easy access to the most 
fertile section of the continent. The Mississippi and its tribu¬ 
taries drain a million square miles of farm land. We have, 
in addition to 18,000 miles of navigable rivers, a greater coast 
line available for commerce than has the whole of Europe. 
New York is the world’s greatest seaport. 

Few mountain ranges hamper the development of trans¬ 
continental railroads in this country, and of these only one, 
the Rockies, is a serious obstacle to effective transportation. 
Our railroad mileage is enormous, a half dozen transcontinen¬ 
tal lines being supplemented by numerous smaller roads and 
feeding lines. We have more than 2000 miles of canals in opera¬ 
tion. Cheap and rapid transportation between the different 
parts of the country, supplemented by adequate means of 
communication by telephone, telegraph, and the postal service, 
undoubtedly has been one of the greatest factors in our national 
prosperity. 

61. Domestic and foreign trade. — The great majority of 
our products are not shipped to foreign markets, but are utilized 
within the country. We are still so young and so undeveloped 
a country that our manufacturers have been kept busy supply¬ 
ing the domestic market. This fact, together with the American 
manufacturer’s lack of knowledge concerning the possibilities of 
foreign trade, explains our neglect of foreign markets. In pro¬ 
portion as our manufacturers catch up with the domestic 
market, and in proportion as their knowledge of foreign 
markets increases, it is likely that they will give more and 
more attention to customers in other countries. 

But though a very small proportion of our products are sent 
abroad, the foreign trade of the United States exceeds in value 
the foreign trade of any other country. This predominance is 


THE NATURE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY 


49 


due, not so much to our search for foreign markets, as to the 
steady demand in other countries for three classes of goods in 
the production of which we have a distinct advantage. These 
three classes of goods are, first, raw materials of which we have 
a great abundance, such as cotton and copper; second, special¬ 
ties invented and patented by Americans, such as inexpensive 
automobiles, typewriters, and phonographs; and, third, com¬ 
modities which may be advantageously produced by large- 
scale methods, such as agricultural machinery and the cheaper 
grades of textiles. ^ 

62. Summary and forecast. — We have very briefly sur¬ 
veyed some of the basic facts of American industry. On the 
one hand, the favorable location and the rich natural resources 
of the United States have furnished a substantial basis for in¬ 
dustrial progress. On the other hand, we must note that the 
American people are energetic and versatile, — combining, to a 
happy degree, the qualities of initiative and originality, per¬ 
severance and adaptability. The great wealth and prosperity 
of the country as a whole have been the result of the combination 
of a favorable land and an able people. 

This is not the whole of the story, of course. It must be 
admitted that, with all of our wealth, we continue to face seri¬ 
ous charges of poverty and industrial maladjustment. These 
charges are of great importance, but it should be remembered 
that no problem can be solved, or even intelligently attacked, 
until the essential facts are well in hand. We have briefly 
described the nature of American industry. What we have 
now to do, as a preliminary to considering the problem of 
poverty and industrial reform, is to analyze the economic laws 
in accordance with which American industry has developed. 
The essential facts of the next four chapters cannot be weighed 
too carefully. 

Questions on the Text 

1. To what extent has the character of American industry changed 

in the last century and a half? 

2. Compare North America with South America with respect to 

natural advantages. 




50 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

3. Outline the changes which have occurred in the population of the 

United States since 1790. 

4. Trace briefly the increase in our national wealth since 1850. 

5. What are the chief occupations of the American people? 

6. Name three important industrial minerals, and comment on our 

supply of each. 

7. What are the chief characteristics of American agriculture? 

8. Outline the growth of our manufacturing industries. 

9. How are transportation and communication encouraged by the 

physical geography of the United States? 

10. Why is our domestic trade of relatively greater importance than 

our foreign trade? 

11. To what three types of goods is our predominance in foreign 

markets due? 

12. What qualities of the American people have contributed to their 

industrial success? 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter vi. 

Or all'of the following: 

2. Bishop and Keller, Industry and Trade, chapters i and ii. 

3. Bogart, Economic History of the United States, chapter i. 

4. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter i. 

5. King, Wealth and Income of the People of the United States, 

chapter iii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Describe briefly each of the six regions into which continental 

United States may be divided. (Bogart, pages n-12.) 

2. Why has the animal life of the North American continent declined 

in significance since colonial times? (Bogart, page 8.) 

3. Into what five divisions may the forests of the United States be 

classified? (Bishop and Keller, pages 27-28.) 

4. What may be said as to the temperature of the United States? 

(Bogart, pages 12-13.) 

5. What may be said as to the extent of rainfall in the United States? 

(Bogart, page 13.) 

6. Explain the importance of water power in the United States. 

(Bogart, pages 3-4.) 

7. What changes in farm land values have been brought about in the 

last century? (King, pages 22-27.) 

8. Discuss the value of urban land in the United States. (King, 

pages 15-21.) 


THE NATURE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY 51 

9. Why is it extremely difficult to measure the wealth of the United 
States? (Fetter, pages 6-10.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Trace the growth in the population of your state since 18S0. What 

have been the chief sources of this increase? ^ 

2. To what extent has the population of your state been affected 

by immigration from Europe? What attracts immigrants to 
your state? Have there been any changes in the character of 
this immigration since 1880? 

3. Classify the population of your state on the basis of occupation. 

(Secure data from the State Board of Labor, or State Bureau 
of Statistics.) 

4. Estimate the material wealth of your community. What light 

does the result throw upon the difficulties of summarizing the 
wealth of the nation? 

5. Discuss the importance in the economic life of your section of 

(a) Agriculture, 

( b ) Mining, 

(c) Forestry, 

(1 d ) Manufacturing. 


n 

6. The economic geography of your section. (Consult Dryer, Ele¬ 

mentary Economic Geography.) 

7. A comparison of America three hundred years ago with the Amer¬ 

ica of to-day. (Price, The Land We Live In , chapters i and ii.) 

8. Character of the American population. (Burch and Patterson, 

American Social Problems , chapter ix.) 

9. An analysis of the American character. (Bryce, The American 

Commonwealth , vol. ii, chapters cxiv and cxv.) 

10. Ways of getting a living. (Carver, Elementary Economics, chap¬ 
ter xv.) 

n. Geographical distribution of cities and industries in the United 
States. (Semple, American History and Its Geographic Conditions, 
chapter xvi.) 

12. Agricultural industries in the United States. (Bishop and Keller, 

Industry and Trade, part ii. Smith, Commerce and Industry, 
chapters i, iii, iv, v, and vi.) 

13. Animal industries in the United States. (Bishop and Keller, 

Industry and Trade, part iii. Smith, Commerce and Industry , 
chapter ii.) 


lo 


2 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

14. Power. (Smith, Commerce and Industry, chapter ix.) 

15. Mineral industries in the United States. (Bishop and Keller, 

Industry and Trade , part iv. Smith, Commerce and Industry, 
chapters viii, xiii, xiv, and xv.) 

16. Manufacturing industries in the United States. (Bishop and 

Keller, Industry and Trade, part v.) 

17. Trade routes of North America. (Smith , Commerce- and Industry, 

chapter xvi.) 

18. Tne foreign trade of the United States. (Dryer, Elementary 

Economic Geography, chapter xxxii. See also any other recently 
published text on this general field.) 


CHAPTER VII 


WHAT IS MEANT BY PRODUCTION 

63. Why men work. — Ultimately everyone depends upon 
work for his living. Young children commonly live upon the 
earnings of their parents; most normal adults, on the other 
hand, depend upon their own efforts for their living. Since 
every individual probably works because of a combination of 
motives, it is possible somewhat to analyze the reasons why 
men work. The most fundamental reason for working is m 
order to preserve one’s life. This assured, the individual is 
in a position to work in order to preserve the lives of those 
who are near and dear to him. When the necessities of life 
have been provided, work is commonly continued for the sake 
of acquiring comforts or luxuries. 

Under a well-regulated legal system these efforts of the in¬ 
dividual also benefit the community, but until he is able to 
support himself and his family, the average individual does not 
consciously make the public interest the chief end of his labors. 
However altruistic a man may be, he will not be able to labor 
consistently in behalf of others, unless he will thereby serve 
his own interests as well, or unless his personal needs have 
already been met. 

64. The old way of getting a living. — The economic history 
of eighteenth century England illustrates two rather distinct 
methods of getting a living, one of which may be called the 
old, and the other the new. Up to about the middle of the 
century, the masses of Englishmen, in common with the people 
of other countries, got a very poor living. Most common 
necessities were made in the home and for purely family use. 
Shoes, clothing, tools, and similar articles were produced labo¬ 
riously and on a small scale. In comparison with industrial 
conditions in the nineteenth century, there was at that time 

53 


54 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


little industrial cooperation 1 , little division of labor, little sus¬ 
picion that men were, in spite of hard work engaged in for 
long hours, getting a very poor living. The trouble was, partly, 
that men had not yet fully realized the possibilities of helping 
one another, and partly that they were ignorant of how to 
make Nature really an efficient aid in getting them a living. 

65 . The new way of getting a living. — After the middle of 
the eighteenth century the invention of a series of remarkable 
machines enabled Englishmen greatly to increase their pro¬ 
ductivity, first in the manufacture of textiles, and later in 
numerous other industries. By subdividing their labor more 
and more minutely, and by each specializing in the particular 
type of work which he could do best, men found that their 
total output could be greatly increased. This complex di¬ 
vision of labor, made possible by the use of water and steam 
power to run machines and to move vehicles of transportation, 
so reduced the difficulty of getting a good living, that it 
constituted a veritable revolution in industry. Indeed, this 
change is known in history as the Industrial Revolution. 

66 . Effects of the Industrial Revolution. — In the last 
century and a half the Industrial Revolution has spread to 
every important civilized country in the world, everywhere 
encouraging the application of machine methods to more and 
more industries. This change from production on a small 
scale, and often by hand, to large-scale production in factories 
equipped with complex machines, has had important results. 
It has so increased our control over Nature that even the hum¬ 
blest workman of to-day enjoys many comforts denied kings 
a few centuries ago. On the other hand, the Industrial Rev¬ 
olution has tended to create a numerous class which depends 
entirely upon wages, and to set off against this class an 
employing group which possesses and controls most of the 
income-producing equipment of industry. The significance of 
this last development will become clearer as we go along. 

1 By cooperation is here meant simply the working together of different 
persons or groups of persons. Cooperation in this sense is to be dis¬ 
tinguished from cooperation as discussed in Chapter XII. 


WHAT IS MEANT BY PRODUCTION 


55 


67 . Nature of modern production. — In the study of modern 
production two fundamental facts confront us. The first is 
that the economist does not define production as merely the 
making of material objects. We desire material objects only 
if they will satisfy our wants. Since, also, the satisfaction of 
wants is the important thing, it is clear that the performance 
of a service, such as teaching or painting, may be more im¬ 
portant than the manufacture of a material object which no 
one wants. Production may thus be defined as the satisfaction 
of human wants. The manufacturer of a material object is 
productive only if that object is wanted by some one; he who 
supplies personal or professional service is productive if that 
service satisfies the wants of some one. 

The second fundamental fact which confronts the student 
of modern production is the complexity of our industrial system. 
Three hundred years ago most 'of the commodities in daily 
use were made, either in the home and by the family members, 
or by small groups of artisans working together under relatively 
simple conditions. To-day production is a vast and complicated 
process. To the eye of the untrained observer a great mass of 
factories, farms, railroads, mills, machines, ships, and busy 
laborers appears without order and, often, without purpose. 
The task immediately before us is to analyze this mass, and 
to point out the nature of the various factors which contribute 
to the productive power of a community. 

68 . Nature a first factor in production. — Nature is defined 
by the economist as inclusive of all of the materials and forces 
furnished in the form of land and its products, oceans, lakes, 
rivers, rain, humidity, and climate. Since Nature is rather 
a vague term, and since, also, the economist looks upon land 
as the most important element in Nature, we may lump to¬ 
gether all of the materials and forces of Nature and apply the 
term “land.” 

Taken in this sense, land is clearly of great importance in 
production. We build houses and factories upon it, we use 
it as a basis of transportation, we harness its motive power, 
and we make extensive use of the innumerable raw materials 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


56 

which it furnishes. Without land there could be no production, 
in the sense in which the economist understands the word. 

69. Man’s labor a second factor in production. — Something 
besides land, or Nature, is necessary before our wants can be 
satisfied. Nature is often careless of our needs and desires. 
True, she offers us berries, coal, firewood, and many other 
commodities which are practically ready to use, but even these 
articles will not satisfy our wants unless we go to the trouble 
to secure possession of them. In an important sense Nature 
is passive, and if she is to furnish us with a living, we must 
engage in labor. This labor may be mental or physical, the 
important point being that it is effort undertaken to increase 
our control over Nature. Savages are content to use products 
in substantially the form in which Nature provides them; 
civilized peoples work over the products of Nature until the 
utility or want-satisfying power of those products has been 
greatly increased. Man’s living improves as he progresses 
from indolence to hard physical labor, then from hard physical 
labor alone to a combination of physical and mental labor 
intelligently directed. 

70. Capital a third factor in production. — Land to furnish 
raw materials, and man to make use of those materials, — what 
more is necessary? Nothing else would be necessary if all of 
Nature’s gifts were readily accessible, and if man unaided 
could make the best use of them. But Nature hides or dis¬ 
guises many of her treasures, and man is physically weak. 
Hence he has hit upon the device of making tools to help him 
in his contest with Nature. During the period of the Industrial 
Revolution many simple tools were supplanted by complicated 
devices run by power and called engines and machines. To 
the economist tools and similar devices are a form of capital, 
capital being defined as inclusive of everything which man has 
created, or caused to be created, in order to help in further 
production. 1 The fashioning of hammers and saws, the con¬ 
struction of railways, and the manufacture of machinery, all 

1 Land has not been created by man but is a gift of Nature. Land, 
therefore, is not a form of capital. 


WHAT IS MEANT BY PRODUCTION 


57 


these operations create capital. The systematic creation and 
use of capital is one of the distinguishing features of modern 
civilization. The laborer alone can produce little; aided by 
capital he can produce much. Capital is not important if 
one is willing to live like a savage; on the other hand, it 
is indispensable if one wishes to enjoy the benefits of 
civilization. 

71 . Coordination a fourth factor in production. — Land, 
labor, and capital are factors in production. Two hundred 
years ago nothing else was essential to production. The average 
individual had his own land, produced his own tools or capital, 
and relied chiefly or entirely upon his own labor. 

But the Industrial Revolution enlarged and complicated pro¬ 
duction. It created an industrial system in which the individual 
is generally a specialist, producing a surplus of his one product, 
but dependent upon numerous other persons for most of the 
things which he personally consumes. To-day, for example, 
there are numerous individuals raising cattle, the hides of 
which are to be made into shoes; other individuals are perfect¬ 
ing means of transportation so that those hides may be 
carried to market; still other persons concern themselves only 
with the building of factories or with the manufacture of 
machines with which to work those hides into shoes. These 
various individuals and groups may never see each other, 
nevertheless they aid one another. 

The secret of this often unseen and unconscious cooperation 
is that there are individuals who specialize in the work of 
connecting up, or coordinating, the other factors which are 
necessary to the production of shoes. These individuals, about 
whcm we shall have more to say in the next chapter, constitute 
an important economic group. They coordinate, in the example 
given above, the cattle grower, the railroad manager, the tanner, 
the factory builder, and the manufacturer, and thus make 
possible a kind of national or even international cooperation 
which would otherwise be impossible. Those whose function 
it is to promote this cooperation are, therefore, indispensable 
factors in modern production. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


5 * 

72. Government a fifth factor in production. — A cursory 
examination of modern industry would convince the observer 
that land, labor, capital, and coordination are important fac¬ 
tors in production. There is, in addition, a factor which is so 
fundamental, and of such essential value, that it is sometimes 
overlooked altogether. This is the work of the government 
in protecting productive enterprises. Government aids in pro¬ 
duction by suppressing theft, violence, and fraud; by allow¬ 
ing individuals to engage in helpful businesses; by enforcing 
contracts entered into legally; and by punishing many kinds 
of monopolistic abuses. 1 The whole fabric of American pros¬ 
perity is built'upon the foundation of law and order. 

73. Summary and forecast. — Production in the economic 
sense consists in doing that which will satisfy human wants. 
Modern production is a vast and complicated process, involv¬ 
ing the cooperation of five factors: land, labor, capital, coordin¬ 
ation, and government. In a later chapter we shall find that 
there are wide differences of opinion as to the relative impor¬ 
tance of some of these factors. We shall find, indeed, that 
the most vital economic problems which confront American 
democracy depend for their solution upon a clear understand¬ 
ing of the facts stated or implied in this chapter. The student 
ought not, therefore, to accept hastily the statement that land, 
labor, capital, coordination, and government are necessary in 
production, but ought rather to reason out just how and why 
each is actually helpful in American industry. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What are the chief reasons why men work? 

2. Describe the “ old way of getting a living.” 

3. Just what is meant by the “ new way of getting a living ”? 

4. What were the chief effects of the Industrial Revolution? 

5. What is the economist’s definition of production? 

6. Just how does Nature help in production? 

7. Explain the relation of Nature to land. 

8. Show how man’s labor is necessary in production. 

1 We shall take up the problem of monopoly in Chapters XXVII 
and XXVIII. 


WHAT IS MEANT BY PRODUCTION 


59 


Q. What is the nature and function of capital? 

10. Discuss coordination as a factor in production. 

11. Name a fifth factor in production. 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter vii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Carver, Elementary Economics, chapters ix-xiii. 

3. Adams, Description of Industry, chapter v. 

4. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter viii. 

5. Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book 1, chapters i and ii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What instinct in man gives rise to the division of labor? (Smith, 

chapter ii.) 

2. Name and distinguish between the two kinds of division of labor. 

(Carver, pages 77-82.) 

3. How does pin making illustrate the principle of the division of 

labor? (Smith, chapter i.) 

4. How does the meat packing industry illustrate the principle of 

the division of labor? (Ely, page 125.) 

5. To what extent does the cotton mill illustrate the principle of 

the division of labor? (Ely, pages 124-125.) 

6. What are the three fundamental advantages which result from the 

division of labor? (Smith, chapter 1; Carver, pages 75-76; 
Ely, page 126.) 

7. What are the effects of the complex division of labor upon the 

worker? (Ely, pages 127-128.) 

8. Describe the chief sources of power utilized by man. (Carver, 

chapter x.) 

9. Discuss the origin of capital. (Carver, chapter xi.) 

10. What are the two factors which give value to land? (Carver, 

page hi.) 

11. Explain the statement that thousands of individuals cooperate to 

furnish the humblest workman with food and clothing. (Smith, 
chapter i.) 

12. What is the secret of modern industrial efficiency? (Adams, 

page 87.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Visit a factory, mill or shop in your vicinity and study the organ¬ 
ization of the plant with regard to the application of the principle 
of the division of labor. Secure the amount of output per man by 


6o 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


dividing the total product by the number of workmen cooperat¬ 
ing in its production. Compare the output per man under these 
conditions with the probable output per man if each workman 
were working separately, without material assistance from other 
workmen. 

2. Study, both by inquiry and by observation, the effects of the 

division of labor upon the health and spirits of the workmen in 
the factory, mill or shop visited. 

3. Classify the industries in your locality on the basis of whether 

they rely chiefly or entirely upon human, animal, water, steam 
or electric power. Why does each industry not utilize some 
other form of power than that actually used? 

4. Classify some of the familiar occupation groups in your community 

according as they derive their incomes chiefly or entirely from 
land, labor, capital, or the process of coordinating land, labor, 
and capital. Test the productivity of each group by the standard 
advanced in section 67 of the text. 

5. Attempt to show to what extent each of the five factors of pro¬ 

duction has contributed toward the erection and furnishing of 
your schoolhouse. 

n 

6. The Industrial Revolution in England. (Ely, Outlines of Eco¬ 

nomics, chapter iv. Cheyney, Introduction to- the Industrial and 
Social History of England, chapter viii.) 

7. Colonial industries. ( Lessons in Community and National Life, 

Series A, pages 73-83; Series B, pages 17-25; Series C, pages 
17-25. See also Bogart, Economic History of the United States, 
chapter iv. 

8. The Industrial Revolution in the United States. (Bogart, Eco¬ 

nomic History of the United States, chapter xii. Ely, Outlines of 
Economics, chapter vi. Marshall and Lyon, Our Economic 
Organization, chapter viii.) 

9. The significance of the cotton gin. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

10. Cyrus McCormick and the reaper. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

11. The story of a loaf of bread. (Wood, The Story of a Loaf of Bread. 

Additional material on this subject may be secured by writing 
to the International Harvester Company, Chicago.) 

12. The story of iron and steel. (Smith, The Story of Iron and Steel, 

pages 23-126.) 

13. Development of business organization. ( Lessons in Community 

and National Life, Series A, pages 169-178.) 

14. Economic work of the United States government. (Dryer, Eco¬ 

nomic Geography, chapter xxxiii.) 


CHAPTER VIII 


EXCHANGING THE PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY 

74 . Relation of the division of labor to exchange. — In the 

self-sufficing stage that existed in industry a few hundred years 
ago, there was generally little necessity for the exchange of 
products. Each family produced most of the commodities 
which it needed, and depended relatively little upon the prod¬ 
ucts of persons outside the family circle. 

But the complex division of labor which developed out of 
the Industrial Revolution has made the exchange of products 
increasingly important. To-day the typical workman con¬ 
centrates upon one particular kind of work, and is content to 
exchange a share of his earnings for the numerous goods and 
services which he cannot supply for himself. Exchange thus 
increases the total output of the community or nation by 
permitting individuals to specialize in those commodities which 
they can produce most effectively. 

75 . Relation of transportation and communication to ex¬ 
change. — Exchange is largely dependent upon transportation 
and communication. In the United States, for example, not 
only do the individuals of a particular community specialize 
in various types of work, but the different sections of the coun¬ 
try are devoted to the production of those commodities for 
which they are best suited. Thus it is largely true that New 
England is best suited to manufacturing, the South to the 
growing of cotton, and certain parts of the West to the produc¬ 
tion of lumber and foodstuffs. The suitability of a region to 
a particular class of products is due, partly to location, partly 
to the nature of the soil and the climate, and partly to the 
inclination and training of the people. But whatever its causes, 
this territorial division of labor could not be carried out with- 

61 


62 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


out an efficient system of transportation and communication. 
Communication by mail, telephone, and telegraph is necessary 
to allow producers and consumers in different parts of the 
country to keep in touch with one another. Transportation 
by land and water is necessary if the surplus products of one 
section are to be exchanged for the surplus products of other 
sections. 

76 . Types of coordinators. — Those who perform the work 
of coordination in industry are commonly referred to indis¬ 
criminately as business men, middlemen, or entrepreneurs . 1 
The meaning of these three terms is distinguished with difficulty, 
but to avoid confusion later on the essential character of each 
should be pointed out here. The term business man is very 
wide, and is commonly inclusive of all who actively engage in 
any sort of business. The primary function of the middleman 
is to act as a connecting link between various industrial enter¬ 
prises. The entrepreneur, on the other hand, is primarily an 
individual who coordinates land, labor, and capital with the 
intention of initiating and conducting a business enterprise. In 
so far as he acts as a connecting link between other industrial 
agents, the entrepreneur is a middleman, but the middleman 
is usually thought of as an individual who connects up existing 
businesses, rather than initiating a new enterprise. To the 
functions of the entrepreneur we shall return in the next chap¬ 
ter; here it is the middleman proper who is our chief concern. 

77 . Importance of the middleman. — The chief stages of 
shoe manufacture may serve to illustrate the great impor¬ 
tance of the middleman in exchange. The middleman, an¬ 
ticipating a demand for beef and hides, connects the cattle 
grower with the five-stock market. Still later it is a middle¬ 
man who offers raw hides to the tanner, and who sees that 
the wholesale leather merchant comes into business contact 
with the tanner. The banker or broker who connects the 
entrepreneur with the money with which to set up a shoe 
factory may be called a middleman, as may the individual 

1 The term “entrepreneur” is awkward and little known, but no more 
satisfactory term is available. 


EXCHANGING THE PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY 63 

who aids the entrepreneur in getting the required amounts of 
land and labor with which to start manufacturing. When, 
under the direction of the entrepreneur, the shoe has been 
manufactured, it is often a middleman who connects the shoe 
wholesaler with the finished product. The jobber who buys 
large quantities of shoes from the wholesaler and sells them 
to the retailer in small lots is a middleman. The advertising 
man whose description and pictorial representation of the shoe 
causes the consumer to buy it of the retailer is also a middleman. 

78 . Not all middlemen are socially necessary. —By coordi¬ 
nating the work of these various individuals, many of whom 
are themselves middlemen, the middlemen whom we have been 
describing allow the community to secure the full benefit of 
the division of labor and of exchange. Where there exist just 
enough middlemen to coordinate with maximum efficiency the 
various industrial agents of a community, the community 
gains. When, on the other hand, there are more middlemen 
at work than are really needed to perform the work of indus¬ 
trial coordination, the community loses. This loss is a double 
one: first, the working energy of the superfluous middlemen is 
wasted, or at least is applied uneconomically; second, middle¬ 
men are paid, directly or indirectly, out of the product which 
they handle, so that the handling of a commodity by an un¬ 
necessarily large number of middlemen means higher prices 
for the ultimate consumers of that commodity . 1 

79 . Barter. — We have seen what the middleman does; it 
remains to point out how, or by means of what mechanism, 
he performs his functions. When savages, and civilized peoples 
living under primitive conditions, wish to exchange their sur¬ 
plus goods, they generally resort to barter, i.e., they exchange 
one commodity directly for another. Where the division of 
labor has been so little developed that the goods to be exchanged 
are relatively few, this may work very well, but in modern in¬ 
dustry barter would be inexpedient, if not impossible. The 

1 The existence of superfluous middlemen constitutes a grave prob¬ 
lem, to which more and more attention is being given. Various aspects 
of this problem are discussed in Chapters XII and XXV. 


64 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

farmer who had a surplus of cattle and desired a piano might 
have great difficulty in finding a man who had a surplus piano 
and who also desired cattle. Even though the farmer liked 
the piano in question, and even though the owner of the piano 
were pleased with the farmer’s cattle, it might be impossible 
to measure the value of the piano in units of cattle. 

80 . Nature and function of money. — To facilitate exchange 
civilized peoples make an extensive use of money. Money may 
be defined as anything that passes freely from hand to hand 
as a medium of exchange . 1 In modern times gold, silver, nickel, 
and copper coins have been the most familiar forms, though 
paper currency is also an important form of money. There is 
nothing mysterious about money: it is simply a means of 
facilitating exchange by saving time and by guaranteeing ac¬ 
curacy in measuring the relative values of commodities. 

Let us see how money actually aids in the exchange, say, 
of cattle and pianos. The farmer disposes of his cattle to a 
middleman, receiving in return money, the authenticity of 
which is guaranteed by the government’s stamp upon its 
face. There is no difficulty in making change, for money can 
be so minutely divided as to measure the value of an article 
rather exactly. The farmer does not fear that he could not 
use the money received for the cattle, for money is generally 
accepted in exchange for any commodity. The farmer now 
offers the money to the piano-owner, who is probably a middle¬ 
man. Again the fact that money is finely divisible allows an 
accurate money measure of the value of the piano. The owner 
of the piano, if he is satisfied with the amount of money 
offered, does not hesitate to accept the farmer’s money, since 
he, too, realizes that he can use the money to purchase the 
things that he in turn desires. 

81 . Value and price.—We have used the term “value” 
several times; as part of our preparation for the study of the 
great problem of industrial reform, we must understand pre¬ 
cisely what is meant by the term. 

1 The terms “ money” and “ capital” are often used interchangeably. 
Strictly speaking, however, money is a form of capital. Moreover, 
it is only one form of capital. 


EXCHANGING THE PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY 65 

Suppose, for the sake of clearness, that we speak of a market 
as a definite place where goods are bought and sold. Individ¬ 
uals take or send their surplus products to the market for 
sale; individuals desiring to buy commodities likewise resort 
to the market. In the market commodities are said to have 
value, that is to say, they have power in exchange. The power 
of a commodity in exchange is measured in money, and the 
amount of money for which a commodity will exchange is 
called its price. Price is thus a measure, in terms of money, 
of the value of a commodity. 

The value of a commodity in the market is dependent, partly 
upon its utility, or want-satisfying power; and partly upon its 
scarcity. In other words, the value of a commodity depends 
partly upon the intensity with which it is desired by persons 
able and willing to purchase it, and partly upon its available 
supply. Price is set as the result of the interaction of the 
forces of supply and demand, this interaction commonly tak¬ 
ing the form of a bargaining process between prospective 
sellers and prospective buyers. 


Questions on the Text 

1. Explain clearly the relation between the division of labor and 

exchange. 

2. To what extent is exchange dependent upon transportation and 

communication? 

3. Name three types of coordinators, and distinguish between them. 

4. Illustrate the functions of the middleman with reference to the 

shoe industry. 

5. Where there exist in a community more middlemen than are 

really needed, what double loss results? 

6. What is barter? 

7. Why is barter not extensively used in modern industry? 

8. Define money. 

9. What is the primary function of money? 

10. Give an illustration of the service performed by money. 

11. Define value. Distinguish between value and price. 

J2. Upon what two factors is value dependent? 

13. How is price set or determined? 


66 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter viii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Adams, Description of Industry, chapter viii. 

3. Carver, Elementary Economics, chapters xix, xx, xxi, xxii, and xxiv. 

4. Hayward, Money, What It Is and How to Use It, chapter viii. 

5. Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book 1, chapters iii and iv. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Name some commodities which at one time or another have been 

used as money. (Carver, pages 215-216.) 

2. Why were precious metals first coined? (Smith, chapter iv.) 

3. What is meant by the phrase “Time is money”? (Carver, 

page 183.) 

4. What is the function of the bank check? (Hayward, pages 58-60.) 

5. Explain the meaning of scarcity. (Carver, page 203.) 

6. What are the characteristics of a modern market? (Adams, 

pages 139-148.) 

7. What is meant by the “higgling of the market”? (Adams, 

page 139.) 

8. What is the “first law of the market”? (Carver, page 201.) 

9. What are the four industrial agencies on which the organization 

and practice of the modern market depend? (Adams, pages 
148-152.) 

10. What is meant by the “widening of the market”? (Carver. 

page 171.) 

11. Explain the statement that “the division of labor is limited by 

the extent of the market.” (Smith, chapter iii.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. In the production of what commodities do the people of your 

section tend to specialize? To what extent is this specialization 
due to the nature of the soil and climate? To geographical 
location? To the training of the people? 

2. What becomes of the surplus products of your section? Trace 

these products as nearly as possible to the ultimate consumer. 

3. List the articles of food which appear on your dinner table and 

attempt to discover the source of each. 

4. To what extent does the exchange of products in your section 

take place by means of canals, inland waterways, ocean-going 
vessels, motor truck, horse teams, railroads? 


EXCHANGING THE PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY 67 

4 

5. To what extent are the telephone and telegraph used to facilitate 

exchange in your section? 

6. Visit a near-by market and study the operations there, with ref¬ 

erence to the facts discussed in this chapter. 

7. List and classify the middlemen of your community. 

11 

3 . Internal trade and transportation in the United States a century 
ago. (Bogart and Thompson, Readings in the Economic History 
of the United States, pages 240-251.) 

9. Transportation and communication in the United States since 
i860. (Bogart. Economic History of the United States, chapters 
xxiv and xxv.) 

10. Early forms of money. (Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, 

pages 387-399-) 

11. Forms of money at the present time. (Adams, Description of 

Industry, chapter x.) 

12. Why coinage is necessary. (Bullock, Selected Readings in Eco¬ 

nomics, pages 399-400.) 

13. The minting of coins. ( Lessons in Community and National Life, 

Series C, pages 177-185.) 

14. Paper money. ( Lessons in Community and National Life, Series C, 

pages 185-192.) 

15. Functions of money. (Adams, Description of Industry, chapter x.) 

16. The commercial bank. ( Lessons in Community and National 

Life, Series A, pages 187-192.) 

17. An English fair in the eighteenth century. (Bullock, Selected 

Readings in Economics , pages 325-333.) 

18. The development of business organization. (Marshall and Lyon, 

Our Economic Organization, chapters ix and x.) 


CHAPTER IX 


DISTRIBUTING THE INCOME OF INDUSTRY 

82 . The problem prior to the Industrial Revolution. — The 

distribution of industrial income has to do with dividing the 
products of industry, or the money which represents those 
products, among the various individuals who have aided in 
their creation. 

The problem of distribution has existed ever since men first 
combined for purposes of production, but until the period of 
the Industrial Revolution the question was relatively unim¬ 
portant. When, three hundred years ago, most necessities 
were produced within the family circle, there was little or no 
question as to whether or not individuals outside the family 
ought to be rewarded for having helped in the production of 
those commodities. If one member of the family made an 
entire pair of shoes, for example, he was clearly entitled to 
those shoes, at least so far as economic principles are concerned. 
Even where different members of the family combined to 
produce a pair of shoes or an article of clothing, the small 
number of persons involved, as well as the close identity of 
interests among the family members, kept the problem of 
distribution from becoming a serious one. 

83 . Effect of the Industrial Revolution upon the problem. 
— The Industrial Revolution greatly increased the importance 
of the problem of distribution. Indeed, the growth of the fac¬ 
tory system, and the greater and greater complexity of the 
division of labor, have made the distribution of industrial 
income the basic problem in our economic and social life. 
Many commodities are still produced by individuals working 
independently, or by the joint efforts of the members of a 
family, but the vast majority of commodities are now produced 

68 


DISTRIBUTING THE INCOME OF INDUSTRY 69 

by the joint efforts of numerous individuals who are not bound 
together by family ties. The production of a factory-made 
shoe, for example, involves large numbers of people, including 
the cattle grower, the transportation agent, the tanner, numer¬ 
ous laborers, the individuals who supply land and capital to 
the entrepreneur, and the entrepreneur who conducts the 
enterprise. The welfare of millions of people is involved in 
the distribution of industrial income among individuals who 
cooperate in such enterprises as this. 

84 . Difficulty of the problem. — Under modern industrial 
conditions most commodities are produced by the combined 
efforts of large numbers of people. All these people help along 
the productive process, though in different ways and to a vary¬ 
ing degree. Since all help, all are entitled to payment. But 
this is less simple than it sounds. How shall we determine 
how much each one helps, and how shall we decide how much 
each one is to receive? 

At the outset of the discussion, we can be sure of at least 
one fact, i.e. that since all the individuals involved in a given 
enterprise must be paid out of the value of the finished product, 
the combined sums received by them cannot long exceed the 
total value of that product. Unfortunately, this fact is often 
overlooked. Many of the individuals who aid in production 
often become so intent upon securing their share, that they 
are over-ready to explain their contribution to the product, 
but loath to give due credit to those who have cooperated 
with them. It is the belief that some individuals receive too 
little of the joint income of industry, while other individuals 
receive too large a share, which has given rise to the charge 
of injustice in the distribution of wealth. 

85 . Significance of the entrepreneur in distribution. — For 
the sake of clearness, let us continue to illustrate the nature 
of distribution by reference to the shoe industry, carried on 
under conditions which are not unduly complicated. 

The individual having control of the actual manufacture of 
the shoes is the entrepreneur. It is he who, in anticipation 
of a demand for shoes, has initiated the enterprise. Suppose, 


7o 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


for the sake of simplicity, that the entrepreneur has secured 
land from the land-owner, capital from the capitalist, and 
labor from the workmen. Protected in a legitimate enterprise 
by the government, he has set himself up as a manufacturer 
of shoes. Since he is in control of the enterprise, it is he who 
pays the land-owner, the capitalist, and the laborers, for their 
respective contributions toward the finished shoes. 

The amounts received by the individuals cooperating with 
the entrepreneur are not, however, arbitrarily determined. The 
entrepreneur must bow to economic law, and give these individ¬ 
uals what free competition in industry sets as a proper reward 
for their respective services. Let us examine into this con¬ 
formity to economic law. 

86 . The land-owner receives rent. — The land-owner is re¬ 
warded because he extends the use of land to the entrepreneur. 
A land-owner could not be expected to, and will not, allow the 
entrepreneur free use of this land. The land-owner must there¬ 
fore be paid for the use of the land. The entrepreneur, on the 
other hand, is able and willing to pay for the use of the land 
because upon it he expects to build a factory in which to man¬ 
ufacture shoes. He therefore pays the land-owner an amount 
of money called rent. The amount of rent paid for a piece 
of land depends partly upon how much the entrepreneur wants 
the land, and partly upon the available supply of land of the 
type wanted. This is equivalent to saying that rent is de¬ 
termined by the interaction of the two forces of supply and 
demand. 

87 . The capitalist receives interest. — Besides land, the 
entrepreneur needs machinery, office equipment, raw materials, 
the services of laborers, and numerous other aids in production. 
Let us assume that the entrepreneur borrows of a capitalist 
the money required to procure these necessities. The en¬ 
trepreneur can afford to pay interest for the use of this money, 
since with the aid of the goods and services which it will buy, 
he can produce more shoes than would otherwise be possible. 
Not only can he afford to pay interest, but he is obliged to 
pay it, since otherwise he could not secure the required loan. 


DISTRIBUTING THE INCOME OF INDUSTRY 


71 


Though some people tend carelessly to overlook this fact, 
saving and abstinence are necessary to the accumulation of 
money. The individual who has money, therefore, cannot 
be expected to allow the entrepreneur to use it without pay¬ 
ment, especially not when, as we have just seen, the entre¬ 
preneur can acquire wealth by the use of the goods and 
services which that money will buy. 

The amount of interest which the capitalist receives for the 
use of his money will depend, as will rent, upon the law of 
supply and demand. If there is a large amount of funds avail¬ 
able for investment, and at the same time few borrowers, then 
a given capitalist must be content to accept a relatively low 
rate of interest, lest his refusal cause the entrepreneur to close 
a bargain with a competing capitalist. If, on the other hand, 
available funds are scarce and entrepreneurs are greatly in 
need of money, then capitalists are at an advantage and entre¬ 
preneurs must offer relatively high rates of interest. 

88 . The laborers receive wages. — The payment which the 
laborers receive for their part in the production of the shoes 
is called wages. Since the laborers help in shoe manufacture, 
the employer can afford to pay them. Not only can he afford 
to pay them, but he must pay them. Otherwise the laborers 
would not work for this particular entrepreneur, but, in a 
freely competitive market, would offer their services to a com¬ 
peting employer. 

Wages, like rent and interest, depend upon the conditions 
of supply and demand. If, in comparison with other aids in 
production, the services of laborers are wanted badly, and if, 
at the same time, there is a scarcity of the desired type of labor, 
then wages will be high. If, on the other hand, there is an 
oversupply of laborers, and also a small demand for that type 
of labor, then wages will tend to be low. 

89 . The government receives taxes. — In addition to pay¬ 
ing the land-owner, the capitalist, and the laborers for their 
share in producing the shoes, the entrepreneur must pay taxes 
to the government. These taxes may be considered as payment 
for that maintenance of law and order without which the 


72 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


economical manufacture of shoes would be impossible. The 
share which goes to the government is determined by a unique 
method: the government does not try to secure as large a 
share of the product as possible, but strives, on the contrary, 
to exact as little as possible, and still meet its expenses. The 
subject of taxation requires special treatment 1 and does not, 
therefore, call for further mention in this chapter. 

90 . The entrepreneur receives profits. — That share of the 
income derived from the sale of the shoes which goes to the 
entrepreneur is called profits. It is only fair that the entre¬ 
preneur receive some reward, for it is he who conceived the 
idea of shoe manufacture and then carried out the project. 
Without his efforts the land-owner, the capitalist, and the 
laborers would not have combined in this enterprise, with the 
result that there would have been fewer shoes in the commu¬ 
nity. Fewer shoes would probably mean more expensive shoes. 
And not only does the entrepreneur deserve some reward for thus 
adding to the well-being of the community, but if he did not 
receive that reward, he would not go to the trouble of initiating 
and maintaining a shoe manufacturing establishment. 

The share going to the entrepreneur is determined less exactly 
than is the share of the land-owner, the capitalist, and the 
laborers. In dividing up the income of the business, the shoe 
manufacturer must, in an important sense, put himself last. 
Before there are finished shoes to sell, he must pay the land- 
owner rent, the capitalist interest, and the laborers wages. 
Before he is allowed to count out his own share he must also 
pay taxes to the government, pay insurance on his plant, and 
set aside an amount sufficient to keep his buildings and ma¬ 
chinery in repair. He cannot evade the payment of rent, 
interest, or wages on the plea that these payments will diminish 
his profits. He has contracted to pay the landlord, the cap¬ 
italist, and the laborers, and he must fulfill that contract. 
If, after paying all of his expenses, there is anything left, the 
entrepreneur retains it as profits. Sometimes this share is 
very large, sometimes it is so small as to force the entrepreneur 
1 See Chapter XXXII. 


DISTRIBUTING THE INCOME OF INDUSTRY 73 

out of business. In any case, the chief risks and responsibilities 
of the whole enterprise are concentrated upon the entrepreneur, 
rather than upon the land-owner, the capitalist, or the laborers. 

91 . The determinants of each share. — To sum up, the 
share of the joint industrial income going respectively to the 
land-owner, the capitalist, and the laborers is determined by 
the interaction of the forces of supply and demand, operating 
under conditions of free competition. The entrepreneur’s de¬ 
mand for land, labor, or capital will depend upon whether or 
not he sees an opportunity, under a particular set of circum¬ 
stances, to add to his product by the employment of each or 
all of these factors. Where the supply of laborers is large, 
relatively to demand, the promised product of any one laborer 
is likely to be relatively small, and in this case the entrepreneur 
or employer will be unwilling or even unable to offer a par¬ 
ticular laborer high wages. Under these circumstances the 
competition of the many laborers for the few jobs will accord¬ 
ingly bring about lower wages. Where, on the other hand, 
the supply of laborers is small, relatively to demand, the chances 
that a particular laborer will be able to add to the product are 
relatively great, and the competition of employers for laborers 
will result in higher wages. The same reasoning is applicable 
to rent and interest. The automatic operation of the law 
of supply and demand, functioning in a freely competitive 
market, determines the shares which go to land, labor, and 
capital. The share going to the individual entrepreneur is, as has 
already been pointed out, a residual share, i.e. what is left over. 

Questions on the Text 

x. What is meant by the distribution of industrial income? 

2. Why was this distribution of relatively small importance prior to 

the Industrial Revolution? 

3. In what way did the Industrial Revolution accentuate the impor 

tance of the problem of distribution? 

4. What are the chief difficulties which confront the student of 

this problem? 

5. What belief has given rise to the charge of injustice in the dis¬ 

tribution of wealth? 


74 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


6. Explain the significance of the entrepreneur in distribution. 

7. What is the nature of rent? 

8. Why does the capitalist receive interest? 

9. Why does the laborer receive wages? 

10. What is the government’s share in distribution? 

n. What is the nature of profits, and how are they determined? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter ix. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Carver, Elementary Economics , chapters xxx and xxxi. 

3. King, Wealth and Income of the People of the United States, chap¬ 

ter vii. 

4. Thompson, Elementary Economics , chapters xx to xxiv inclusive. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is meant by non-competing groups? (Thompson, page 296.) 

2. What are the chief causes of the difference in wages in different 

occupations? (Carver, page 268.) 

3. Upon what factors does the efficiency of the laborer depend? 

(Thompson, page 303.) 

4. What is the functional theory of wages? (Carver, pages 261-262.) 

5. Have wages increased or decreased since 1850? (King, page 173.) 

6. What is the relation of risk to interest? (Thompson, pages 

35 I- 353 -) 

7. What is meant by the term “ unearned increment”? (Thompson, 

pages 335-337*) 

8. Define profits. (King, pages 155-156.) 

9. Have profits increased since 1880? (King, page 177.) 

10. Name some of the characteristics of the business man. (Thomp¬ 
son, pages 357-358.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Select for study some common commodity which passes through 
all or most of the stages of manufacture in your community, 
as, for example, a hammer, a shoe, flour or canned goods. Make 
a list of the various individuals who are connected with the 
production of this commodity. By whom are these various 
individuals paid? Does it appear to you that their services 
bear a close relation to the sums which they receive? Explain 
fully. 


DISTRIBUTING THE INCOME OF INDUSTRY 


75 


2. Select for study a plot of land which the owner has leased to a 

tenant in your community. Why is the tenant willing to pay 
rent for this plot? Why is he able to pay rent? Do you believe 
that under the existing circumstances he would be able to pay 
an increase of 10% in the rent? An increase of 50%? Explain. 

3. Select for study an enterprise in your community in which the 

employer utilizes various groups of workmen. Classify the 
workmen on the basis of the amount of wages received. Why 
does the employer pay some high wages and others low wages? 

4. Select for study a successful entrepreneur in your community. 

Outline, either as the result of hearsay, or personal interviews with 
him, the qualities to which he apparently owes his success. 

5. Make a study of an enterprise in your community which has 

either recently failed, or which is not now in a thriving condition. 
Attempt to discover the reasons for the failure to progress. 

n 

6. The law of variable proportions. (Carver, Elementary Economics, 

chapter xxix.) 

7. The nature of income. (King, Wealth and Income of the People 

of the United States, chapter v.) 

8. Relation of public education to income. (Thompson, Elementary 

Economics, pages 299-303.) 

9. Reasons for the scarcity of capital. (Carver, Elementary Eco¬ 

nomics, chapter xxxvi.) 

10. The productivity of capital. (Taussig, Principles of Economics, 

vol. ii, chapter xxxviii.) 

11. Historical changes in the rate of interest. (Bullock, Selected 

Readings in Economics, pages 563-568.) 

12. The rent of land. (Carver, Elementary Economics, chapter xxxiii.) 

13. Causes of the scarcity of labor. (Carver, Elementary Economics, 

pages 270-271.) 

14. Historical changes in the rate of wages. (Bullock, Selected Readings 

in Economics, pages 533 ~ 543 -) 

15. The nature of profits. (Carver, Elementary Economics, chap¬ 

ter xxxvi.) 

16. Relation of profits to risk. (Taussig, Principles of Economics, 

vol. ii, chapter xlix, section 1.) 

17. Qualities of a successful entrepreneur. (Taussig, Principles of 

Economics, vol. ii, chapter xlix, sections 3 and 4.) 

18. Motives of business activity. (Taussig, Principles of Economics, 

vol. ii, chapter xlix, section 6.) 

19. The government’s share in distribution. (Carver, Elementary 

Economics, chapter xxxvii.) 


CHAPTER X 


BASES OF THE CAPITALISTIC SYSTEM 

92. The “capitalistic system.” — Modern industry is some¬ 
times said to be headless, because the numerous individuals 
engaged in it are not systematically controlled or directed by 
a single agency. It is often said to be planless, since laborers, 
employers, and other industrial agents concentrate upon their 
individual desires and needs, rather than upon the needs of 
the community or nation as a whole. 

And yet there is in modern industry a certain regularity of 
outline, and a general tendency to follow the economic laws 
discussed in the preceding three chapters. This circumstance 
prevents us from concluding that our industrial life is entirely 
a haphazard affair. It may, indeed, be said that we have an 
industrial system. Because of the great importance in it of 
capital, this system is commonly known as the “capitalistic 
system.” The underlying principles of this system have al¬ 
ready been mentioned or implied; nevertheless it will be to 
our interest in this chapter to develop and organize these 
principles so as to indicate just how they constitute the bases 
of capitalism. 

93. Attitude of government toward industry. — “It is the 

duty of the government,” Gladstone once said, “to make it 
easy for the people to do right, and difficult for them to do 
wrong.” According to the theory of the capitalistic system, 
that is “right” which renders the individual and the com¬ 
munity stronger, happier, and more prosperous in useful pur¬ 
suits, while that is “wrong” which weakens or demoralizes the 
citizen and the community. The chief economic function of 
government is thus to discourage men from harmful and de¬ 
structive acts, and to encourage them in activities which are 
helpful and productive. 


76 


BASES OF THE CAPITALISTIC SYSTEM 


77 


Professor Carver points out that the method by which ani¬ 
mals get their living is either destructive, deceptive, persuasive, 
or productive. Any one of these four methods may at least 
temporarily increase the well-being of the individual, but only 
the productive method is certain to benefit the community as 
well. A good government will therefore seek to prevent people 
from advancing their individual interests by killing, robbing, 
or deceiving their fellows. This suppression of violence and 
fraud leaves open to individuals only the productive method 
of getting a living, so that they cannot benefit themselves 
without at the same time adding to the prosperity of the com¬ 
munity. From the standpoint of capitalism, thus, a good 
government maintains an attitude toward industry which is 
primarily negative: such a government hampers the economic 
activities of individuals very little or not at all, so long 
as they do not practice harmful methods of getting a 
living. 

94. Private property. — Most men are self-centered. In 
even a highly developed society, men ordinarily will not work 
consistently except in their own behalf, or in the behalf of a 
very few people for whom they care intensely. This instinct 
of self-interest is the kernel of industrial progress, but it can 
result in material prosperity only when government suppresses 
violence and fraud. The lowest savages are undoubtedly self- 
centered, but so long as they must rely upon brute force to 
retain their possessions, there is little inducement to acquire 
wealth. It is only when law suppresses robbery and fraud, 
and otherwise protects the individual in his property rights, 
that the acquisitive instinct will cause him to exert himself 
in productive ways. Because it satisfies the individual’s desire 
to secure the good things of life, the institution of private 
property is the greatest known spur to economic activity. 
It is only in those countries where individuals are protected 
in their property rights that we find an active, progressive, 
and prosperous people. 

95. Enforcement ot contracts. — We have already seen that 
among the members of a modern industrial society there is a 


78 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

high degree of interdependence, corresponding, in an important 
sense, to the interdependence between the parts of a machine. 
As we have seen, the typical individual in industry is a special¬ 
ist, concentrating upon one particular kind of work, and de¬ 
pending upon his fellows to supply him with goods and services 
which he cannot supply for himself. Now, such a condition of 
interdependence could never have arisen were it not for the 
fact that government fosters the spirit of confidence among 
individuals. Many persons can be trusted to fulfill the agree¬ 
ments or contracts which they make with their fellows, but 
many cannot. A prime function of government, therefore, is 
to enforce contracts entered into voluntarily and in legal form. 
This is clearly essential to our material prosperity, for if men 
are to rely upon the word of those who sell them goods or 
services, or to whom they sell goods or services, all of the 
individuals concerned must be dependable. 

96 . Competition. — A good government will shunt men into 
productive activities, and it will insist upon the fulfilment of 
lawful contracts. Subject to these two limitations, individuals 
are relatively free to seek their own well-being. But an ear¬ 
mark of economic goods is scarcity, that is, there are at a given 
time and place fewer of them than are desired. Men must 
therefore compete with one another for goods and services. 
The lower animals compete for food with tooth and claw; 
among civilized men government tries to raise competition to 
an ethical plane by tending to suppress all but the productive 
methods of competition. 

Where competition is so restricted and safeguarded, advo¬ 
cates of capitalism assert that the results are overwhelmingly 
good. Where there is free competition, i.e. free competition 
in productive enterprise, employers commonly pay their labor¬ 
ers as high a wage as they feel is justified under the particular 
circumstances, lest their workmen abandon them for rival 
employers. Under similar conditions, laborers will generally 
endeavor to render the best possible service, so that the em¬ 
ployer will prefer them to other laborers. This assumes, of 
course, that competition is effective, i.e., that there is neither 


. BASES OF THE CAPITALISTIC SYSTEM 79 

an oversupply or an undersupply of either employers or 
employees. 

Where, again, there is free competition in productive enter¬ 
prise, the price of commodities produced by a given concern 
cannot rise too far, for consumers will either buy those com¬ 
modities of rival producers, or will use substitutes. If, on the 
other hand, prices drop so low that producers make little or 
no profits, they will withdraw from business. 

Free and effective competition thus means rivalry in sat¬ 
isfying wants, that rivalry being engaged in for the sake of 
private gain. Competition tends to harmonize the interests 
of the individual with the interests of the community, by 
making the success of the individual depend primarily upon 
what he accomplishes for his fellows. 

97. Value under conditions of free competition. — In a 
competitive market, as we have seen, value depends upon 
scarcity and utility. No one will ordinarily pay for a commodity 
unless it will satisfy his wants, i.e. unless it has utility. But 
even though a commodity has utility, no one will ordinarily pay 
for it unless it is so scarce that he cannot get as much of it as he 
wishes without paying for it. Air, for example, has great 
utility, but it is so abundant that it can ordinarily be secured 
without payment. Hence it has no value. 

Price, the measure of value in terms of money, will be deter¬ 
mined, under conditions of free competition, by the interaction 
of utility and scarcity. Diamonds are high in price because 
they satisfy intense desires and are scarce; bread is cheap 
because while possessing great utility, it is relatively abundant. 
Skilled labor receives high wages because in addition to its 
utility it is relatively scarce; unskilled labor often receives low 
wages because while possessing utility it is relatively abundant. 
This principle is of the very greatest consequence, and in con¬ 
sidering the programs of industrial reform we shall come back 
to it again. 

98. Freedom. — A large measure of personal liberty is a 
characteristic of the capitalistic system. To an increasing 
extent, government is restricting economic activity to produc- 


8 o 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY . 


tive channels, but with this qualification, the individual is 
comparatively free to do as he likes. The laborer is free to 
move about in search of work, free to seek a better job, free 
to accept or to reject work offered him. He may abandon his 
job when he chooses, and remain idle as long as he chooses, or 
is able. He is repressed by no paternalistic government, em¬ 
barrassed by no feudal system. He is part and parcel of the 
competitive system, guiding his own actions and accepting 
responsibility for them. To a large extent, the employer is 
similarly free to hire or discharge men as he sees fit, to initiate 
a new business, or to withdraw from business altogether. In 
every case the individual is free, so far as legal restrictions 
are concerned, to use his money as he chooses. Whether it is 
hoarded, invested, or wasted is largely a matter for him to 
determine. 

99. Benefits of the capitalistic system. — The material 
prosperity of the modern world has been attained under the 
capitalistic system of industry. The system was not invented, 
but has. developed and spread from small beginnings because 
the experience of centuries has proved it to be the best known 
system which is applicable to human industry. The starting 
point of all material prosperity has been the gradual development 
of government which suppresses violence and fraud, which 
enforces contracts, and which makes possible the rise of the 
institution of private property. The inception of the Indus¬ 
trial Revolution, and its spread beyond England to Europe, 
America, and, later, to Asia, were possible only because these 
bases of capitalism were already laid. To a large extent, thus, 
the steam engine, the railroad, the steamship, the electric 
light, and countless other inventions which have helped to 
revolutionize the world we live in, may be traced directly or 
indirectly to individual freedom and to the protection of prop¬ 
erty rights. In so far as science, art, and literature depend, to 
a considerable degree, upon material prosperity, we may go 
so far as to say that capitalism is the most important single 
basis of modern civilization. 

100. Defects of the capitalistic system. — But capitalism is 
not without its defects. The lack of centralized control in in- 


BASES OF THE CAPITALISTIC SYSTEM 8l 

dustry allows of planless production. 1 Entrepreneurs fre¬ 
quently produce without adequate knowledge of demand, and 
without knowledge of rival production. When business is 
booming and profits are high, it often happens that so many 
individuals go into business that eventually there is over-pro¬ 
duction, i.e. there are more goods at a particular time than can 
be sold at a profit. Crises, unemployment, and “hard times” 
are often the direct result of this over-production. Malnutri¬ 
tion, disease, vice, crime, and pauperism are often its indirect 
results. 

In still other ways the capitalistic system allows of an uneco¬ 
nomical expenditure of labor and capital. There is no ade¬ 
quate method of directing labor and capital toward the pro¬ 
duction of durable and helpful commodities, and away from 
the production of luxuries and such harmful commodities as 
have not been made illegal. Under competitive conditions, 
too, a number of shops or stores may exist in a community 
that might easily be served by a single firm. This is wasteful 
duplication, just as advertising is a waste when it goes beyond 
the point of informing the public as to whereabouts and charac¬ 
ter of commodities. Still another source of waste is traceable 
to an excessive number of middlemen, each of whom adds 
to the price of the product as it passes through his hands. 

101. The inequality of wealth. — In all of the great indus¬ 
trial countries of the world, including the United States, the 
existing distribution of wealth is roughly in the form of a pyra¬ 
mid, i.e. y at the top or apex of the pyramid there is a relatively 
small number of persons who enjoy large incomes, while at 
the base there is a large number with relatively small incomes. 
This inequality is explained by Professor Taussig on two 
grounds: First, it is likely that some individuals originally 
secured an economic advantage over their fellows because of 
inborn superiority of some kind. Second, the economic advan- 

1 During our participation in the World War, it is largely true that 
much of the productive energy of the country was organized and directed 
as a unit. This was a temporary expedient, however, resorted to for 
the purpose of winning the war. 


82 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


tage thus secured has been maintained from generation to 
generation by inheritance. Where, for example, wealth is in¬ 
vested so that the principal remains intact while a large annual 
income is thrown off as interest, the heirs may live in affluence, 
regardless of ability or desert. Thus we have a leisure class 
emerging as the result of inborn differences between men, 
supplemented by the accumulation of wealth and its trans¬ 
mission by inheritance. 

102. The question of industrial reform. — It goes without 
saying that great inequalities in the distribution of wealth 
are undesirable. If any improvement is humanly possible, we 
ought not to rest content so long as millions of our citizens 
have too few of the good things of life, while others have much 
more than is necessary for comfort and happiness. The test 
of an economic system is whether or not it provides a good 
world to live in, and so long as large numbers of individuals 
have fewer necessities and comforts than it is possible to give 
them, our economic system must be considered defective. 
The people as a group are both the means and the end of 
progress. Democracy cannot rest upon any other basis than 
the greatest good to the greatest number. 

103. Approaching the problem. — In approaching the prob¬ 
lem of industrial reform it is necessary to cultivate a fair and 
sane attitude. We must attack all of the problems of American 
democracy, certainly. But in so far as some of these problems 
involve the integrity of the capitalistic system, we should 
distinguish between ills which are clearly traceable to that 
system, and defects which obviously would exist under any in¬ 
dustrial system. Capitalism cannot be discredited, for ex¬ 
ample, by pointing out that crime exists in all capitalistic 
countries. Though capitalism may accentuate some types 
of crime, our knowledge of human nature leads us to suspect 
that a considerable amount of crime would exist under any 
known system of industry. Again, criticism should be con¬ 
structive; it is easy to point out the defects of an institution, 
but it is quite another thing to provide a good substitute for 
that institution. 


BASES OF THE CAPITALISTIC SYSTEM 


83 

The problem before us is a double one: First, can we remedy 
the defects of the capitalistic system? And, if so, by what 
method shall we proceed? Second, if the defects of capitalism 
cannot be remedied, what industrial system shall be sub¬ 
stituted for capitalism? It is not a question of whether or not 
capitalism is faulty, but of whether it is more faulty than the 
system that would be substituted for it. The virtues of capi¬ 
talism, most authorities believe, clearly outweigh its defects, 
and though some other system may eventually prove to have 
as great virtues with fewer defects, the burden of proof is upon 
those who advocate other systems than capitalism. Until 
the advantage is clearly shown to be bn the side of a rival 
system, it will be wise to retain capitalism. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Is it correct to speak of a “capitalistic system ”? 

2. What is the chief economic function of government? 

3. Name the four methods of getting a living. Which will be encoms 

aged by a good government? 

4. To what extent is the attitude of a good government toward 

industry a negative one? 

5. What is the relation of government to the institution of private 

property? 

6. What is the importance * of laws requiring the enforcement of 

contracts? 

7. Why is there competition? 

8. How does competition tend to harmonize the interests of the 

individual with those of the community? 

9. Why are diamonds high in price ? Why is bread low in price? 

10. What is the relation of capitalism to economic freedom? 

11. What can be said as to the benefits of capitalism? 

12. What are the chief defects of capitalism? 

13. Outline the existing distribution of wealth. 

14. On what two grounds does Professor Taussig account for this 

situation? 

15. What facts should be borne in mind in attacking the problem of 

industrial reform? 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter x. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter ii. 


8 4 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


3. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter ii. 

4. Hobson, Evolution of Modern Capitalism, chapter i. 

5. Seligman, Principles of Economics, chapter ix. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Define capitalism. (Hobson, page 1.) 

2. How has the development of mines affected the growth of cap¬ 

italism? (Hobson, page'6.) 

3. What is the relation of colonization to capitalism? (Hobson, 

pages 10-12.) 

4. What is the relation of capitalism to a large labor supply? (Hobson, 

pages 13-14.) 

5. Define private property. (Ely, page 21.) 

6. Discuss the theories of private property. (Fetter, pages 18-20.) 

7. What were the earliest forms of private property? (Seligman, 

page 126.) 

8. What was the effect of the domestication of animals upon the 

institution of private property? (Seligman, pages 126-127.) 

9. What are the limitations of private property? (Fetter, pages 20-21.) 

10. What is meant by the term “ vested interests ”? (Ely, pages 25-26.) 

11. What is “fair” competition? (Ely, pages 29-30.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Suppose an unscrupulous individual fraudulently secured posses¬ 

sion of property belonging to you. What steps would you take 
to secure justice? 

2. What penalties are inflicted in your state for highway robbery, 

embezzlement, theft, forgery, and similar crimes against prop¬ 
erty? 

3. Suppose that you are a florist and that you have ordered a large 

quantity of flowers from a greenhouse keeper for your Dec¬ 
oration Day trade. Assume that you could not sell the flowers 
at a profit if they arrived later than Decoration Day. Assume, 
also, that you have reason to suspect that the greenhouse keeper 
will not be prompt in delivering the flowers ordered. Draw up 
a contract (to be signed by him) which would protect you 
against his tendency to carelessness. 

4. Select for study an isolated rural district, a small town, or a section 

of a suburb in which the community secures its supply of a 
given commodity from a single shop or store. Compare the 
price of the commodity, and its quality, with the price and 


BASES OF THE CAPITALISTIC SYSTEM 


85 

quality of a similar commodity in stores located in communities 
served by several competing stores. What do you conclude 
as to the value of competition? 

5. Make a study of bill-board advertising, listing the number of 

advertisements inviting purchase of competing commodities. 
Write to a bill-board advertising company for advertising 
rates, and draw your conclusions as to (a) the cost of adver¬ 
tising, and ( b ) the waste involved in advertising competing 
commodities. 

Make a similar study of magazine advertising, writing to the 
advertising manager of the magazine selected for study, in 
order to secure advertising rates. 

h 

6. Relation of good government to economic prosperity. (Carver, 

Elementary Economics, chapter vii.) 

7. Competition. (Seligman, Principles of Economics, chapter x.) 

8. Methods of struggling for existence. (Carver, Elementary Eco¬ 

nomics, page 40.) 

9. The development of economic freedom. (Seligman, Principles 

of Economics, chapter xi.) 

10. Distribution of wealth in the United States. (Taussig, Principles 

of Economics, vol. ii, chapter liv; King, Wealth and Income 
of the People of the United States, chapter ix.) 

11. Place of machinery in the capitalistic system. (Hobson, Evolution 

of Modern Capitalism, pages 27-29.) 

12. The impersonality of modern life. ( Lessons in National and 

Community Life, Series B, pages 97-104.) 

13. The extent of poverty in modern life. (Burch and Patterson, 

American Social Problems , chapter xvi.) 


B. Programs of Industrial Reform 


CHAPTER XI 
SINGLE TAX 

104 . Definitions. — The words “single tax” refer to a policy 
under which all public revenue is to be raised by a single tax 
on land value. All other taxes are to be abolished. By land 
value is meant the value of the land itself, irrespective of all 
improvements, such,as ditches, drains, and buildings. Every¬ 
thing done on the land to increase its value would be counted 
as an improvement, and would thus be exempt from taxation. 
This would leave only location value and fertility to be taxed. 
By location value is meant that value which is due to the sit¬ 
uation of the land. For example, land in a wilderness has little 
or no location value, but if, later, schools, stores, railroads, 
and other elements of community life develop in that region, 
the land may take on great value because of its location in the 
community. The fertility value of land is that value which is 
due to natural endowment in the way of moisture, climate, 
and soil elements. 

105 . Henry George and his work. — The doctrine of single 
tax is closely associated with the name of Henry George, an 
American reformer who died in 1897. His theory was best 
developed in his book, Progress and Poverty , published in 1879. 
In this book George points out that in spite of the progress of 
the world, poverty persists. This is due chiefly, he contends, 
to the fact that land-owners take advantage of the scarcity of 
good land to exact unduly high prices for its use. According to 
George, this monopoly of the gifts of Nature allows land- 
owners to profit from the increase in the community’s produc¬ 
tiveness, but keeps down the wages of the landless laborers. 


SINGLE TAX 


87 

“Thus all the advantages gained by the march of progress”, 
George writes, “go to the land-owner, and wages do not in¬ 
crease.” 

George proposed to use the single tax as an engine of social 
reform, that is to say, to apply it with the primary view of 
leveling the inequalities of wealth. Value due to improvements 
was to be exempt from taxation, so that land-owners might 
not be discouraged from making improvements on their land. 
On the other hand, it was proposed that the single tax take all 
of the income due to location and fertility. This, according 
to George, would “render it impossible for any man to exact 
from others a price for the privilege of using those bounties 
of Nature to which all men have an equal right.” 

108 . Results claimed for the single tax. — George claimed 
that the application of the single tax was highly desirable. 
If, through the medium of this tax, the government were to 
take from the land-owners all the location and fertility value 
of their land, two great benefits were to result. First, rich 
landlords would be deprived of much unearned wealth. Second, 
the wealth so secured, called the unearned increment, could 
be used to make life easier for the poor. Ultimately, George 
went so far as to claim, the single tax would “raise wages, 
increase the earnings of capital, extirpate pauperism, abolish 
poverty, give remunerative employment to whoever wishes it, 
afford free scope to human powers, lessen crimes, elevate morals 
and taste and intelligence, purify government, and carry civi¬ 
lization to yet nobler heights.” The steps by which George 
arrived at this gratifying conclusion are obscure, and practi¬ 
cally every modern economist agrees that too much has 
been claimed for the theory. Nevertheless, there is much to 
be said on both sides of this interesting question. 

107 . Arguments for the single tax. — Single taxers claim 
that it is just to take from land-owners that land value which 
is not due to their individual efforts. Fertility, on the one 
hand, is due originally to the bounty of Nature, and as such 
belongs to all men alike, rather than to particular individuals. 
Location value, on the other hand, is due to community growth, 


88 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


and should therefore be taken for the benefit of the community 
at large. 

A very strong argument in favor of the single tax is that 
land cannot be hidden from the tax assessor, as can stocks, 
bonds, jewels, and other forms of personal property. A single 
tax on land would, therefore, be relatively easy to apply. 

A tax on the location and fertility value of land would not 
discourage industry. Location value is largely or entirely due 
to community growth, rather than to the efforts of the in¬ 
dividual land-owner. Fertility, of course, is largely a natural 
endowment, and as such cannot be destroyed by a tax. The 
land would continue to have all of its location value, and prob¬ 
ably much of its fertility value, whether or nGt the owner were 
taxed. 

Another argument is that a single tax on land would elimi¬ 
nate taxes on live stock, buildings, and all other forms of prop¬ 
erty except land, and that this would encourage the develop¬ 
ment of the forms of property so exempted. This would stimu¬ 
late business. 

It has also been said that the single tax would force into 
productive use land which is now being held for speculative 
purposes. It is claimed that many city tracts remain idle 
because the owners are holding them in the hope of getting 
a higher price in the future. According to the single taxer, 
a heavy tax would offset this hope of gain, and would force 
speculators either to put the land to a productive use, or to 
sell it to someone who would so employ it. 

A last important argument in favor of the single tax is that 
it might force into productive work certain capable individuals 
who are now supported in idleness by land rents. Professor 
Carver has pointed out that if the single tax deprived such 
persons of their incomes, they would be forced to go to work, 
and thus the community would gain by an increase in the 
number of its productive workers. 

108 . Arguments against the single tax. — The most im¬ 
portant objection to the single tax is that the confiscation of 
land, or, what amounts to the same thing, the confiscation of 


SINGLE TAX 


89 

the income which land yields, is unjust. “Pieces of land,” 
Professor Seager points out, “have changed hands on the aver¬ 
age dozens of times in the United States, and present owners 
have in most cases acquired them not as free gifts of Nature, 
nor as grants from the government, but by paying for them, 
just as they have had to pay for other species of property.” 
Where individuals have acquired land in good faith, and under 
the protection of a government which guarantees the institution 
of private property, the confiscation of land value would be 
demoralizing to the community and unfair to its land-owning 
citizens. 

Another difficulty lies in the ease with which value due to 
permanent improvements is confused with value due to location 
or fertility. Where money has been expended in draining land, 
removing stones or applying fertilizer, it is hard to tell, after 
a few years, what part of the value of the land is due to im¬ 
provements. The possibility of this confusion would cause 
some land-owners to neglect to improve their land, or might 
even cause them to neglect to take steps to retain the original 
fertility. Thus the single tax might result in the deterioration 
of land values. 

It is also objected that the single tax would provide an 
inelastic taxation system. This means that it would tend to 
bring in an equal amount of revenue each year, whereas the 
revenue needs of government vary from year to year. A good 
tax system will accommodate itself to the varying needs of the 
government, always meeting the expenses of government, but 
at the same time taking as little as possible from the 
people. 1 - 

It is doubtful whether the single tax would force into pro¬ 
ductive use land now being held by speculators. Even though 
a heavy tax were laid upon such land, it would not be utilized 

1 Some opponents of the single tax declare that the heaviest possible 
tax on land would yield only a fraction of the revenue needed to finance 
the government. Single taxers, however, maintain that the tax would 
yield more than enough revenue to meet public expenditures. The 
merits of this argument are uncertain. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


90 

unless there were an immediate use to which it could profitably 
be put. 

A last important argument against the single tax is that 
there is no good reason for removing the tax burden from all 
except land-owners. Land is only one form of wealth, and it 
is unfair not to tax individuals who hold property in some other 
form. Some land value is indeed unearned, but there are other 
forms of unearned wealth, as, for example, monopoly gains and 
inherited property. Taxes ought to be levied upon these forms 
of unearned wealth, as well as upon the unearned income from 
land. It is desirable, too, to levy at least a light tax upon the 
propertyless classes, in order to encourage them to feel an in¬ 
terest in, and a sense of responsibility for, the conduct of 
their government. 

109 . Service rendered by the single tax agitation. — Econ¬ 
omists are unanimous in agreeing that the single tax, as ex¬ 
pounded by Henry George, is too drastic and special a reform 
to find wide favor. Nevertheless, the single taxers have per¬ 
formed a valuable service by emphasizing the fact that in 
many cases the income from land is largely or entirely un¬ 
earned. It would be manifestly unjust to dispossess present- 
day land-owners who have acquired land in good faith; on the 
other hand, most economists agree that we ought to reform our 
tax system so as to take for the community a larger share of 
the future unearned increment of land values. As Professor 
Taussig has pointed out, no one has a vested right in the in¬ 
definite future. The taking of this future unearned increment, 
it is hardly necessary to add, would not constitute a single tax, 
but rather a heavy land tax. Many other taxes would continue 
to be levied. 1 

Questions on the Text 

1. Define the single tax. 

2. What is location value? 

3. Define fertility value. 

4. Who was Henry George? 

5. What benefits, according to George, were to result from an appli¬ 

cation of the single tax? 

1 The general problem of taxation is discussed in Chapter XXXII. 


SINGLE TAX 


91 


6. Give the chief arguments in favor of the single tax. 

7. Give the chief objections to the doctrine. 

8. What service has been rendered by the single tax agitation? 

9. What is the attitude of most economists toward the future un¬ 

earned increment of land? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xi. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Carver, Elementary Economics, chapter xlv. 

3. George, Progress and Poverty, book ix. 

4. International Encyclopedia, vol. 21, article on “Single Tax.” 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Who were the Physiocrats? (Carver, page 372.) 

2. What is the “ethical argument” in favor of the single tax? 

( International Encyclopedia, vol. 21, page 136.) 

3. What is the “expediency argument” in favor of the single tax? 

{International Encyclopedia, vol. 21, page 136.) 

4. What is meant by “mining” the soil, and what is the relation of 

this practice to the single tax? (Carver, pages 375-376.) 

5. What, according to George, would be the effect of the single tax 

upon production? (George, book ix, chapter i.) 

6. What, according to George, would be the effect of the single tax 

upon the distribution of wealth? (George, book ix, chapter ii.) 

7. What are the present aims of the single tax movement? ( Inter¬ 

national Encyclopedia, vol. 21, page 137.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Select for study a plot of farm or garden land in your locality. 

(a) What is the market value of the land? 

( b ) Is it more or less valuable than similar plots in the same 

neighborhood? Why? 

(c) To what extent is the value of the plot selected for study 

due to natural fertility? 

{d) To what extent is the value due to location? 

(e) To what extent is the value due to permanent improve¬ 
ments, such as drains, ditches, hedges, fences, or the 
use of fertilizer to retain or increase the natural fertilit}>? 
(/) If you were the owner of this plot, to what extent, if to 
any, would y’our future use of this land be affected by 
the adoption of the single tax program? 


92 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

2. Select for study a plot of ground in your locality which has been 

idle for a number of years. 

(a) Why has this ground been idle so long? 

( h ) Do you believe that this land is being held for specu¬ 
lative purposes? 

(c) If so, suppose that a very heavy tax stimulated the 
owner to put the land to some use. Do you know of a 
productive use to which it could be put? 

n 

3. The life of Henry George. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

4. The economic background of Henry George’s doctrine. (Young, 

The Single Tax Movement in the United States, chapter ii.) 

5. Is land-ownership a monopoly? (Seligman, Principles of Economics, 

page 391.) 

6. Tactics of the single tax movement. (Young, The Single Tax 

Movement in the United States, chapter xii.) 

7. Relation of the single tax to socialism. (Young, The Single Tax 

Movement in the United States, pages 307-312.) 


CHAPTER XII 


PROFIT SHARING AND COOPERATION 

a . Profit Sharing 

110. The nature of profit sharing. — The essence of profit 
sharing is that the workmen in a given enterprise receive, in 
addition to their regular wages, a share in the profits which 
would ordinarily go entirely to the entrepreneur. The share 
going to the employees varies with the establishment, but gen¬ 
erally from one quarter to three quarters of the profits are di¬ 
vided among them. 

Distribution is by various methods. The workmen may 
receive their share in cash at the end of the year. Sometimes 
the money is placed in a provident fund for the workmen as 
a body; in other cases it is deposited in savings banks to the 
account of the individual workmen. In still other cases the 
workman’s share is invested in the business for him, the work¬ 
man thereafter receiving dividends on this invested capital. 
In every case, however, the division of profits among the in¬ 
dividual laborers is on the basis of the wages received, that is 
to say, the higher the regular wage received by a workman, the 
larger will be his share of the profits set aside for distribution. 
Generally, too, only workmen who are steadily employed are 
allowed to share in the distribution of profits. 

111. Limits of profit sharing. — Profit sharing was once 
considered a remedy for many of our industrial troubles, but it 
is now generally conceded that the plan is decidedly limited 
in scope. Profit sharing increases the income of the workmen 
involved, but for this very reason it is often bitterly opposed 
by the trade unions. The unions fear, of course, that the plan 
will make the workmen interested chiefly in the employees of 

93 


94 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


their particular establishment, rather than in the workmen in 
the trade as a whole. The trade unions also maintain that 
profit sharing is often administered in a patronizing manner, 
which is offensive to the self-respect of the workmen. 

To a large extent, the spread of profit sharing depends upon 
the development of altruism among employers. But unfor¬ 
tunately altruistic employers are rare, and the majority of 
entrepreneurs will not adopt the profit-sharing plan unless it 
promises to result in some distinct advantage to themselves. 
This attitude explains, in part, the failure of many profit-sharing 
experiments. Employers have sometimes tried out profit 
sharing in the hope that it would prevent strikes and other 
labor troubles. In some cases this expectation has been real¬ 
ized; in many other cases serious labor troubles have con¬ 
tinued. This continuance of labor troubles has rendered profit 
sharing less attractive to certain types of employers. 

In certain cases employers have experimented with profit 
sharing in the hope that it would stimulate efficiency and 
economy on the part of the workmen. Sometimes the im¬ 
mediate effect of the adoption of the plan has been to make 
the workmen more efficient and more interested in their tasks, 
but after the novelty of the scheme has worn off they have 
generally fallen back into their former pace. In justice to the 
workmen, it should be noted here that in most enterprises the 
conditions of the market and the employer’s managerial ability 
have more influence upon profits than have the personal 
efforts of individual workmen. Where workmen realize this, 
they tend to lose faith in their ability to influence the share 
accruing to them under the profit-sharing plan. 

A last important reason why profit sharing is limited in scope 
is that in many hazardous enterprises, such as mining, agri¬ 
culture, fishing, or building construction, the refusal and ina¬ 
bility of the workmen to share in possible losses prevent the 
adoption of the plan. A mining corporation, for example, may 
make large profits one year, and lose heavily the second year. 
Profit sharing is here inadvisable, if not impossible. The dis¬ 
tribution among the workmen of a large share of the profits 


PROFIT SHARING AND COOPERATION 


95 


accruing at the end of the first year might so deplete the finan¬ 
cial reserves of the entrepreneur that he would be unable to 
meet the losses of the second year. 

b . Cooperation 

112. Relation of profit sharing to cooperation. — Profit 
sharing permits the workmen to secure more than a regular 
wage from a given enterprise, without, however, giving them 
any control over the management of the business. Cooperation 
goes a step farther, and attempts to dispense with either a 
number of middlemen or with the managing employer, or with 
both middlemen and employer. In the case of a profit-sharing 
scheme in which the share of the profits accruing to the work¬ 
men is invested in the business for them, ultimate control of 
the enterprise may come into the hands of the workmen through 
profit sharing. In such a case the plant might be conducted 
cooperatively. In practically every instance, however, cooper¬ 
ation does not grow out of profit sharing, but arises independ¬ 
ently. 

113. Essence of cooperation. — The essence of cooperation 
is that a group of individuals undertake to perform for them¬ 
selves those functions which are commonly carried on by the 
business man. Cooperatives are often workmen, though not 
necessarily so. 

Under the cooperative plan, all of the profits of the enter¬ 
prise are divided among the cooperators; on the other hand, 
the risks of the business must also be borne by them. Manage¬ 
ment of the enterprise is conducted partly by officers or com¬ 
mittees serving without pay, and partly by paid agents. 
The general policies of the business are settled by the cooperators 
acting as a body. 

Cooperation seeks to exchange the centralized control of the 
business man for the diffuse control of a group of cooperators. 
This arrangement, its advocates hope, will permit wealth and 
power to be distributed among more and more people, and es¬ 
pecially among those classes that possess relatively little prop¬ 
erty. Let us inquire briefly into the four types of cooperation. 


9 6 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


114. Consumers’ Cooperation. — Consumers’ cooperation, also 
known as distributive cooperation or cooperation in retail trade, 
is the most common form of cooperation. It is also probably 
the most successful form. 

In this form of cooperation, a number of individuals con¬ 
tribute their savings to a common fund, buy certain desired 
commodities at wholesale prices, and distribute these among 
themselves. Generally, the cooperative store sells to its members 
at the regular retail price, but at stated intervals throughout 
the year the profits of the business are distributed among the 
cooperatives in proportion to the amount of their individual 
purchases. Thus the difference between the wholesale and the 
retail price — minus the expense of conducting the store — 
goes to the cooperators, instead of to a store keeper or other 
middleman. 

One of the best examples of consumers’ cooperation is the 
Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, established in England 
in 1844. This type of cooperation has also been remarkably 
successful in Germany, Belgium, and other continental countries. 
The idea was taken up in the United States about the middle 
of the nineteenth century, and at the present time there are in 
this country about 2000 cooperative stores, many of them doing 
a thriving business. These stores are located chiefly in New 
England, the North Central States, and the West, few being 
found in the South. 

115. Cooperation in credit. — Credit cooperation may take 
any one of a number of forms. In one of the best known forms, 
a group of persons form a credit society by contributing a pro¬ 
portion of their personal savings to a common fund. On the 
strength of this capital, and of their own individual liability, 
they borrow more capital. The total amounts thus got together 
are then loaned to the members of the society at a specified 
rate of interest. This rate of interest is higher than that at 
which the group had borrowed money from outside sources; 
nevertheless, it is lower than the rate members would have to 
pay if they individually sought loans at a bank. This is the 
aim of cooDeration in credit: to enable persons of small means 


PROFIT SHARING AND COOPERATION 


97 


to secure loans without paying the high rates which as individ¬ 
uals they would ordinarily have to meet, if, indeed, they as 
individuals could secure loans under any conditions. 

Credit cooperation has been most successful in Germany, 
particularly among artisans and small farmers. It has also 
attained considerable success among the small tradesmen and 
artisans of Italy. In the United States cooperation in credit is 
less highly developed, but recently its influence has been slowly 
increasing. In many cases it supplies the principle underlying 
building and loan associations in this country. 

116. Cooperation in marketing. — The cooperative principle 
has also been applied to the marketing of agricultural products. 
In Denmark, for example, it has been found that farmers can 
market their dairy products cooperatively, and thus save for 
themselves much of the profit that would otherwise go to 
commission agents and other middlemen. A similar saving has 
been effected in Holland, Belgium, and, to some extent, in 
France. Of recent years, cooperation in marketing has become 
important in the United States, finding particular favor among 
the farmers of the Middle and Far West. At the present time 
there are in this country more than two thousand cooperative 
cheese factories, and more than three thousand cooperative 
creameries. There are also more than a thousand societies 
for the cooperative marketing of fruit, as well as numerous 
live-stock selling agencies. 

117. Cooperation in production. — The three forms of coop¬ 
eration which we have been considering seek to eliminate un¬ 
necessary middlemen from industry. In producers’ cooperation, 
on the other hand, the attempt is made to get rid of the 
entrepreneur, or managing employer. A group of workmen get 
together, subscribe or borrow the required capital, purchase 
tools, materials, and plant, and set up as producers. They 
seek markets for their product, direct the enterprise either 
as a group or through salaried agents, share the profits among 
themselves, and accept the risks of the enterprise. 

Cooperation in production has been tried repeatedly in the 
various countries of Europe, but without success. True pro- 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


98 

ducers’ cooperative associations have also met with almost 
universal failure in the United States, though experiments have 
been made in a variety of industries, and in nearly every part 
of the country. Formerly the Minneapolis Coopers were a 
cooperative group which seemed destined to attain a considerable 
success in production, but this group has now abandoned the 
cooperative principle. The cooperative marketing of fruit, 
cheese, and other agricultural products is, of course, not true 
producers’ cooperation, but rather the cooperative marketing 
of commodities produced by individual enterprisers. 

118. Backwardness of cooperation in the United States. — In 
all forms of cooperation, progress has been much slower in this 
country than in Europe. There are several reasons for this. 
For one thing, American workmen move about to a greater 
extent than do European workmen, whereas cooperation suc¬ 
ceeds best where the cooperators have a fixed residence and 
develop a strong sense of group solidarity. The fact that our 
population is made up of diverse racial types likewise checks 
the growth of the feeling of solidarity. 

An important reason for the backwardness of the coopera¬ 
tive movement in this country is that American workmen 
“make, rather than save money,” whereas cooperation requires 
thrift, and a willingness to practice small economies. Again, 
the efficiency and progressiveness of our industrial system ren¬ 
ders cooperative ventures less necessary in this country than 
in some parts of Europe. It is particularly true that retail 
stores in the United States are more efficient than similar shops 
in England and on the Continent. 

Altogether, the most successful cooperators in this country 
are not native-born Americans, but groups of Finns, Russians, 
Slovaks, and other peoples of immediately foreign derivation. 
It is among these groups that the thrift and group solidarity 
demanded by cooperation are best found. 

119. Limits of cooperation. — Consumers’ cooperation, 
cooperation in credit, and cooperation in marketing aii seek 
to improve the capitalistic system by eliminating some of the 
unnecessary middlemen from our industrial life. In so far as 


PROFIT SHARING AND COOPERATION 


99 


this is true, these forms of cooperation are desirable develop¬ 
ments, and deserve to succeed. Though the movement is 
limited by the considerations set forth in the preceding section, 
it is to be hoped that these three forms of cooperation will in 
the future show a considerable development in this country. 

Producers’ cooperation is a different affair. Rather than 
attempting to decrease the number of unnecessary middlemen, 
it attempts to supersede the entrepreneur or managing em¬ 
ployer where he is most needed. For this reason producers’ 
cooperation will probably continue a failure. To run a modern 
business of any size at all requires a degree of intelligence, 
imagination, judgment, courage, and administrative ability 
which is altogether too rare to be found among casual groups 
of laborers. Varied experience, high ability, the determination 
to accept the risks of the enterprise, and a consistent singleness 
of purpose are necessary in modern production. Even though 
cooperators are able to secure an amount of capital sufficient 
to initiate production, they rarely have the requisite ability 
or experience; too often they object to accepting the risks of 
the enterprise; practically never can they administer the 
business with that unity of control which characterizes the 
most successful business enterprises. 

120. Benefits of cooperation. — While no longer considered 
a far-reaching industrial reform, the cooperative movement 
brings with it many benefits. Cooperation in retail trade, 
credit, and marketing cuts down the waste between consumer 
and producer, and thus helps substantially to reduce the cost 
of living. Cooperation in production, though it fails to reach 
its chief objective, has the virtue of demonstrating to groups 
of workmen that the entrepreneur is of far more value in our 
industrial life than they might otherwise have realized. Aside 
from these advantages, cooperation in any form is an important 
educative force. It fosters the spirit of solidarity and mutual 
helpfulness among members of a group or community. It 
teaches thrift. It trains the cooperating individuals to exer¬ 
cise foresight and self-control. Altogether the training which 
it affords is productive of good citizenship. 


IOO 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Questions on the Text 

1. Explain clearly the nature of profit sharing. 

2. What is the attitude of the trade unions toward profit sharing? 

3. What is the attitude of the employer toward profit sharing? 

4. Does profit sharing result in increased efficiency on the part of 

the workmen? Explain. 

5. What is the relation of profit sharing to cooperation? 

6. What are the essential features of cooperation? 

7. Explain the principle involved in consumers’ cooperation. 

8. Where has this form of cooperation been most successful? 

9. What are the essential features of credit cooperation? 

10. Where is credit cooperation most successful? 

11. What is the aim of cooperation in marketing? 

12. In what way does producers’ cooperation differ from the other 

forms of cooperation? 

13. To what extent is producers’ cooperation a success? 

14. Why is cooperation backward in this country? 

15. Outline the chief benefits of cooperation. 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Fay, Cooperation at Home and Abroad, part iv, chapter v. 

3. Harris, Cooperation, the Hope of the Consumer, chapter vi. 

4. International Encyclopedia, vol. 19, article on “Profit Sharing” and 

vol. 6, article on “ Cooperation.” 

5. Taussig, Principles of Economics, vol. ii, chapter lxix. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is the principle upon which profit sharing is based? ( Inter¬ 

national Encyclopedia, vol. 19, page 244.) 

2. Discuss the origin of profit sharing in the United States. ( Inter¬ 

national Encyclopedia, vol. 19, page 244.) 

3. Give some examples of profit sharing in this country. ( Inter¬ 

national Encyclopedia, vol. 19, pages 244-245.) 

4. Describe the earlier forms of cooperation in this country. ( Inter¬ 

national Encyclopedia, vol. 6, page 44.) 

5. For what purpose was the “ Rochdale plan” originated? (Harris, 

page 88.) 

6. Discuss voting rights under the Rochdale plan. (Harris, pages 

90-91.) 

0^9 i ■ 

G'OC 

J rtfr v 


PROFIT SHARING AND COOPERATION 


IOI 


7- Describe the store service under the Rochdale plan. (Harris, 
pages 93-94-) 

8. How does the Rochdale plan promote thrift? (Taussig, pages 

348-349.) 

9. Why has cooperation succeeded in Great Britain? (Taussig, 

page 350.) 

10. What is the Schulze-Delitzsch plan? (Taussig, pages 352-353.) 

11. What is the Raiffeisen plan? (Taussig, page 354.) 

12. Among what classes of the population is cooperation of greatest 

importance? (Taussig., pages 347-349.) 

13. How does cooperation teach self-government? (Fay, pages 

324-325.) 

14. How has cooperation encouraged thrift? (Fay, page 329.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Make a study of a profit-sharing plan in your locality. (Write 

to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at your State Capitol, asking 
for the names and addresses of employers in your locality who 
have experimented with profit sharing.) 

2. Interview, or write to, an employer, explaining the essence of 

profit sharing, and asking his opinion as to its practicability 
in his business. 

3. Interview, or write to, the officials of a trade union, regarding 

their attitude toward profit sharing. 

4. Write to the Cooperative League of America, 2 West 13th Street, 

New York City, asking for free literature on cooperation in 
your section. If any of the groups of cooperators in your section 
are found to be close at hand, make a study of a typical cooper¬ 
ative group. 

5. Draw up a plan for a cooperative buying club, and discuss with 

your fellow students the chances for its success. (Consult 
Harris, Cooperation, the Hope of the Consumer, chapter xiv.) 

6. Draw up a plan for the cooperative marketing of some agricultural 

product in your section. Send a description of the plan, giving 
advantages, etc., to a farm journal in your section. (Consult 
Powell, Cooperation in Agriculture, chapter iv, and Coulter, 
Cooperation Among Farmers .) 

II 

7. Profit sharing as a method of securing industrial peace. (Burritt, 

and others, Profit Sharing, chapter vii.) 


102 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


8. Profit sharing as a means of stabilizing labor. (Burritt, and 

others, Profit Sharing, chapter vi.) 

9. Relation of cooperation to advertising. (Harris, Cooperation, the 

Hope of the Consumer, chapter xix.) 

10. Credit cooperation in Germany. (Fay, Cooperation at Home and 

Abroad , part i, chapter ii.) 

11. Cooperation in dairying. (Fay, Cooperation at Home and Abroad , 

part ii, chapter vi.) 

12. Cooperation among New England farmers. (Ford, Cooperation 

in New England, chapters vi-ix.) 

13. Cooperation among immigrants in New England. (Ford, Cooper¬ 

ation in New England , chapter iii.) 

14. Cooperation in the fruit industries. (Powell, Cooperation in 

Agriculture, chapter viii.) 

15. The relation of thrift to nation-building. {Annals, vol. lxxxvii, 

pages 4-9.) 

16. The relation of cooperation to socialism. (Fay, Cooperation at 

Home and Abroad, pages 350-355; Sonnichsen, Consumers’ 
Cooperation, part ii, chapter ii.) 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE GENERAL NATURE OF SOCIALISM 

121. Socialism is a vague term. — It is often said that the 
term “socialism” is so vague that it is useless to attempt 
to define it. The word is used to cover all sorts of schemes of 
industrial and social reform. Sometimes a person whose view¬ 
point concerning politics or business has become more liberal 
appears to himself or to others as a socialist. From the stand¬ 
point of many individuals, all those who advocate the exten¬ 
sion of government control are socialists. Still others label as 
socialists all reformers with whose ideas they are not in accord. 
It very often happens that persons who pass in the community 
for socialists are not recognized as such by the official socialist 
parties. Indeed, certain official socialist groups go so far as 
to declare that other official socialist groups are “not really 
socialists,” either in thought or in action. 

122. A definition of socialism. — In spite of this confusion 
it is possible to formulate a rather precise definition of socialism. 
Leaving until later the distinction between the chief socialist 
groups, we may say that the following definition covers all 
who are strictly socialists: Socialism is an economic theory 
which aims to abolish the capitalistic system, and to sub¬ 
stitute for it “a system of collective ownership and demo¬ 
cratic management of the socially necessary means of pro¬ 
duction and distribution.” In rather more simple language, 
socialism intends that all income-producing property shall 
be owned and directed by the state. The state is to own and 
operate land, factories, workshops, railroads, and all other 
means of production. Private property and the competitive 
system are to be abolished. 1 All business is to be conducted 

1 Socialism does not seek to abolish the private ownership of food, 
clothing, and other forms of consumers’ goods, yet both socialists 

103 


104 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

by the government, and all persons are to be employees of the 
government. The distribution of wealth is to be directed by 
the government. 

123. Relation of socialism to other radical theories. — The 

terms “communism” and “socialism” call for careful distinc¬ 
tion. What is now known as socialism was formerly known as 
communism. For example, Karl Marx, the founder of modern 
socialism, called himself a communist. His followers later 
abandoned the name, and began calling themselves socialists. 
Still later, during the World War, a group of Russian socialists, 
popularly known as the bolshevists, revived the term communist 
in the sense used by Marx. Strictly speaking, however, com¬ 
munism is generally thought of to-day as a type of small com¬ 
munity organization in which all wealth, including both the 
instruments of production and consumers’ goods, is owned by 
the community. Socialism, on the other hand, proposes that 
the state own and operate only the instruments of production, 
leaving food, clothing, and other consumers’ goods to be owned 
and enjoyed by individuals. 

Socialism is often thought of in connection with the doctrine 
of anarchy. Anarchism and socialism are alike in that both 
object to one man having authority over another. Anarchism 
agrees with socialism that capitalism is bad because it gives 
the employer power over the laborer. But at this point the 
two theories begin sharply to diverge. Socialism desires to 
abolish private property and to concentrate all authority in 
the hands of the state. The anarchist maintains that this is 
simply a transference of authority, and declares that authority 
in any form is an evil. Thus where socialism seeks to enlarge 
the powers of the state, anarchism objects to the existence 
of any governmental authority whatsoever. 

In addition to communism and anarchism, there are a number 
of interesting theories that are more or less closely associated 

and non-socialists accept the unqualified statement that “ socialism 
seeks to abolish private property/’ because it is the private ownership 
of producers’ goods rather than of consumers’ goods, which constitutes 
a cornerstone of the capitalistic system. 



THE GENERAL NATURE OF SOCIALISM 105 

with the socialist movement. These will not be discussed here, 
for two reasons: first, an adequate treatment of them would 
permit the problem of industrial reform to take up a dispro¬ 
portionate share of our time; second, many of these theories, 
while interesting, are relatively unimportant, from the stand¬ 
point of American democracy at least. We may, therefore, 
confine ourselves to socialism proper, as defined in Section 122. 

124. Karl Marx and his influence. — The germ of socialism 
can be traced back as far as Plato, but the modern movement 
takes its main impetus from the teachings of Karl Marx. Karl 
Marx was a German Jew, who lived between 1818 and 1883. 
Marx early became known for his radical views on political 
and economic subjects. In 1848, he published, in collabora¬ 
tion with Frederick Engels, the well-known Communist Mani¬ 
festo. The Manifesto, which has been called the “ birth-cry 
of modern socialism,” gives in concise form the essence of the 
socialist doctrine. In 1864 Marx helped organize the “Inter¬ 
national,” a federation of radical thinkers, with affiliations 
in the different countries of Europe. In 1867 he published 
the first volume of his famous work, Capital, which elaborated 
the views set forth in the Manifesto, and which has since been 
adopted as the “Bible of Socialism.” Due to the great influ¬ 
ence which Marx has exerted upon socialist doctrine, he may 
justly be called the founder and inspiration of modern 
socialism. 

125. The socialist indictment. — The claims of socialism, 
as formulated by Marx and elaborated by his followers, con¬ 
stitute a serious indictment of present-day society. Socialists 
point out, for example, that the capitalistic system has nu¬ 
merous faults. They call attention to the fact that capitalism 
involves enormous wastes in materials and men; they show 
that luxurious and injurious goods are produced; and they main¬ 
tain that in the past natural resources have often been monopo¬ 
lized by a few. They believe the system of private property 
to be unjust, and declare that free competition involves need¬ 
less duplication of effort. At the present time, it is contended, 
all the good things of life go to a few, while the masses remain 


106 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

in poverty and misery. Socialists declare that the fruits of 
capitalism are unemployment, industrial accidents, crime, vice, 
poverty, disease, and premature death. These charges are 
serious, and Chapter XVI will be devoted to their critical ex¬ 
amination. In this chapter we are concerned chiefly with an 
exposition of the socialist doctrine. 

126. Economic interpretation of history. — Formerly a great 
principle of socialism was the claim that all history has been 
determined by economic forces. According to this view, our 
whole social and political life, including our basic ideas con¬ 
cerning religion, art, science, and government, are only the 
reflected result of economic forces. History, Marx contended, 
is the record of how one class has gained wealth and power 
at the expense of another class. The present state of society, 
he asserted, is the result of the exploitation of the masses by 
a few. 

With this principle we need not further concern ourselves. 
It is an academic appendage to the socialist doctrine, and at 
the present time is not stressed by socialists. The majority of 
socialists now concede that while economic forces have been 
important in history, social, religious, and political forces are 
also important. In view of this admission, the chief importance 
of the doctrine of the economic interpretation of history is its 
theoretical connection with the two great cornerstones of so¬ 
cialism: the theory of surplus value, and the theory of class 
struggle. 

127. Theory of surplus value. — Marx claimed that prac¬ 
tically all wealth has been created by the laborers alone, and 
that all persons other than laborers are parasites. To those 
who have carefully studied Chapter VIII the error of this claim 
must appear self-evident, nevertheless, this concept of value 
is the basis of all socialist attacks upon government and indus¬ 
try. Marx developed this theory as follows: 

The value of an article is determined solely by the amount 
of labor expended upon its production. But although the la¬ 
borer creates all wealth, the capitalist is enabled, by virtue 
of his monopolistic control over the instruments of production, 


THE GENERAL NATURE OF SOCIALISM 


107 

to prevent this wealth from going entirely to the laborer. 1 
Socialism declares that the capitalist holds the laborer in vir¬ 
tual slavery, the laborer receiving only enough of the wealth 
created by him to enable him to keep alive, while the surplus 
of this wealth goes to the capitalist. The capitalist is thus a 
parasite who performs no useful task, but robs the laborers of 
the fruits of their industry. Marx did not regard profits as 
reward for business enterprise, but called them “plunder.” 
Capitalism, according to this view, is a system of theft, involv¬ 
ing “misery, oppression, slavery, degradation, and exploita¬ 
tion.” 

128 . Class struggle. •— Marx declared that the capitalistic 
system was doomed to destruction. He maintained that as 
time went on, wealth would tend to concentrate more and 
more in the hands of the capitalist or employing class. Trusts 
and monopolies would become more common, and gradually 
capitalism would become so unwieldy and so unworkable a 
mechanism that it would finally fall to pieces of its own 
weight. Crises, panics, and trade depressions were supposed 
to be indications of this inevitable disaster. 

The tendency for wealth to concentrate in the hands of a 
few was to be accompanied by the growing poverty of the 
masses. Marx believed that the middle classes would eventually 
disappear, leaving only the wealthy employers and the mis¬ 
erable laborers. The individuals comprising these two classes 
would steadily draw apart into two great armies which were 
destined to battle to the death. Socialism denies that employers 
and laborers have anything in common, and insists that between 
these two groups a struggle must go on until the employing 
class is abolished. 

129 . What is the ultimate aim of socialism? — Nothing 
could here be more important than to know the ultimate aim 
of socialism, nevertheless, there is among socialists no agreement 
as to the framework of the system which they expect to sub- 

1 By “capitalists” socialism means not only individuals with money 
to loan, but “employers” in general, whether middlemen, entrepreneurs, 
or true capitalists. 


io8 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

stitute for capitalism. All socialists desire collective ownership 
and direction of the instruments of production, but beyond this 
there is practically nothing in the way of a constructive so¬ 
cialist program. Generally, it is declared that when capitalism 
has been abolished, the working classes will organize industry 
on the basis of communal ownership. In the socialist common¬ 
wealth there is to be no class struggle, for the reason that there 
are to be no classes. There is to be a just distribution of wealth, 
together with an abolition of poverty, unemployment, and 
all forms of social injustice. But as to how this is to be accom¬ 
plished we have no proof. The so-called constructive program 
of socialism is not so much a definite agreement as to aims 
and methods, as it is a confused and disordered expression of 
the attitude of different socialist groups toward capitalism. 
Indeed, when socialists are asked to advance a concrete and 
definitely constructive program, the reply is often made that 
the advent of socialism is so far distant that the constructive 
side of its program is of no immediate consequence. 

130. Negative character of socialism. —But although the 
constructive program of socialism is vague and unreal, its 
destructive or negative program is definite and very real. 
Socialism is opposed to government as it exists to-day, and 
to that extent, it disapproves of the Constitution of the United 
States. The capitalistic system is to be destroyed. The in¬ 
stitution of private property is to be abolished. Free competi¬ 
tion and private initiative are to be abolished or greatly re¬ 
stricted. All business is to be under the thumb of the gov¬ 
ernment. Personal liberty is to be narrowed down. Some so¬ 
cialists even go so far as to declare war upon the family and 
the church, but though a number of socialist leaders favor the 
abolition of the institution of marriage, and are professed 
atheists, it should be borne in mind that the great majority 
of socialists are not openly hostile to the home and the church. 
Indeed, the average socialist is probably as friendly to these 
institutions as is the average non-socialist. 

131. Socialist attitude toward violence. — It is important 
to understand the methods of socialism. Throughout the 


THE GENERAL NATURE OF SOCIALISM 


109 


greater part of his life, Karl Marx openly advocated violence 
and revolution as a means of securing the downfall of capi¬ 
talism. Socialists, says the Communist Manifesto, “disdain 
to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that 
their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of 
all existing social conditions.” Toward the end of his life, 
Marx changed this view somewhat, and apparently came to 
believe that the overthrow of the capitalistic system might 
come gradually and without bloodshed. In accordance with 
this later view, there is to-day a considerable socialist group 
which disavows violence. Members of this group are known 
as political socialists. 

On the other hand, many socialists cling to Marx’s earlier 
insistence upon violence and bloodshed as a means of attaining 
socialist ends. Members of the latter class are known as mili¬ 
tant socialists, as opposed to-those who disavow violence and 
rely chiefly upon political weapons. The two best-known 
groups of militant socialists are the Industrial Workers of the 
World and the Russian bolshevists. 

132. Political socialism. — Many political socialists are 
personally so mild and agreeable that the thought of unlawful 
action would never be associated with them. The political 
socialist relies chiefly upon the growing political power of the 
working class to effect the abolition of capitalism. This em¬ 
phasis upon political weapons has been particularly notice¬ 
able among socialists living in democratic countries where 
the franchise is widely extended, and where the will of the 
people is reflected through the action of their chosen repre¬ 
sentatives. The political socialist makes a large use of propa¬ 
ganda. He tries to stir up the workingman, to create in him 
a feeling of solidarity with his fellow workmen, and to incite 
a feeling of antipathy toward, and dislike for, the employing 
class. The political socialist emphasizes or exaggerates the 
undesirable side of the laborer’s life, and endeavors by promises 
of an industrial millennium to rouse him to political action. 
“Workingmen of the world, unite, you have nothing to lose 
but your chains,” is the slogan of the political socialist. 


no 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


133. All socialist teachings tend toward violence. — Though 
large numbers of political socialists are peaceful and respon¬ 
sible citizens, it should be noted that all socialist teachings tend 
to result in violence. The insistence of socialism upon the class 
struggle, the deliberate encouragement of industrial ill-will 
and the general policy of obstructing the activities of govern¬ 
ment, all lead inevitably to violence. Strikes involving blood¬ 
shed have in many instances been traced to the teachings 
of political socialism. During the World War, many political 
socialists in the United States supported our cause, but others 
of this group opposed the selective draft, attempted to de¬ 
moralize our military forces, and impeded the conduct of the 
war by giving aid and succor to German agents. By a series 
of slight steps, political socialism, theoretically law-abiding and 
harmless, may drift into treasonable and revolutionary acts. 
The difference between political and militant socialism is thus 
one of degree only. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Define socialism. 

2. What is the relation between the terms “ communism” and “ social¬ 

ism.” ? 

3. How are anarchism and socialism related? 

4. Who was Karl Marx, and what has been his influence upon socialism? 

5. Outline the socialist indictment. 

6. What is meant by the “economic interpretation of history ”? 

7. Explain clearly Marx’s theory of surplus value. 

8. Just what is meant by the class struggle? 

9. Discuss the character of the socialist program. 

10. Explain the attitude of Marx toward violence. 

11. Distinguish between political and militant socialism. 

12. Name the two chief groups of militant socialists. 

13. In what respect do all socialist teachings tend to result in violence? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xiii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. International Encyclopedia, vol. 21, article on “ Socialism.” 

3. Le Rossignol, Orthodox Socialism, chapter i. 

4. Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto, all. 

5. Skelton, Socialism, a Critical Analysis, chapter ii. 


THE GENERAL NATURE OF SOCIALISM 


III 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Explain why increasing social discontent among certain groups 

may be due to improvement in their social and economic con¬ 
dition. (Skelton, page 17.) 

2. What, according to socialists, has been the effect upon the workers 

of the introduction of machinery into industry? (Le Rossignol, 
page 9.) 

3. What, according to'Marx, has been the effect of the factory system 

upon the laborer? (Skelton, pages 33-34.) 

4. What is meant by “wage slavery ”? (Skelton, pages 30-32.) 

5. What is meant by the “iron law of wages”? (Le Rossignol, 

page 9.) 

6. What, according to socialism, has been the effect of capitalisn. 

upon the moral tone of the workers? (Skelton, pages 37-40.) 

7. Who are the bourgeoisie? ( Communist Manifesto.) 

8. Who are the proletariat? {Communist Manifesto.) 

9. What, according to Marx and Engels, are the aims of socialism? 

{Communist Manifesto.) 

10. What does Marx mean by “class consciousness”? ( Internationai> 

Encyclopedia , vol. 21, page 235.) 

11. What changes would occur in human character, in the opinion 

of the socialists, if socialism were to supplant capitalism? 
(Le Rossignol, page 10.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Ask each of a number of prominent citizens in your community 

to define socialism. Compare the definitions secured with that 
given in section 122. What do you conclude as to the indefinite¬ 
ness of the term “socialism”? 

2. Make a brief study of the social classes in your community. Does 

it appear that all of the community’s citizens may be grouped 
into either a wealthy employing class or into an impoverished 
laboring class? Compare your conclusion with Marx’s state¬ 
ment. (Section 128.) 

3. Select for study a shop, factory or mill in your locality. 

(a) Does it appear that the interests of the laborers and the 
employers are identical or in opposition? 

{b) Carefully observe the actual conduct of the business. 
Does it appear to you that the laborers alone create the 
product? Give your reasons. 


112 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


(c) Do the laborers under observation appear to be getting 
barely enough wages to enable them to keep alive? 
Check up your conclusion by visiting the homes of 
some of the laborers in question. 

4. Write to the Department of Justice, Washington, D. C., for infor¬ 
mation regarding the activities of American socialists during 
the World War. 


11 

5. Robert Owen and his work. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

6. Utopian socialism. (Skelton, Socialism, a Critical Analysis, chap¬ 

ter iv; Carver, Elementary Economics, chapter xliii.) 

7. Examples of Utopian communities in the United States. (Hinds, 

American Communities. See also an encyclopedia under “Com¬ 
munism.”) 

8. The nature of anarchism. (Carver, Elementary Economics, 

chapter xlvi.) 

9. The life of Karl Marx. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

10. The law of capitalistic development. (Skelton, Socialism, a Critical 

Analysis, chapter vii.) 

11. The economic interpretation of history. (Skelton, Socialism, a 

Critical Analysis, chapter v.) 


CHAPTER XIV 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE I. W. W. 

134. Origin of the I. W. W. — The letters I. W. W. are a 

convenient abbreviation which is used to designate a group 
of militant socialists calling themselves the Industrial Workers 
of the World. The I. W. W. resemble a French socialist group 
known as syndicalists, and on that account the I. W. W. are 
sometimes called the American syndicalists. As a matter of 
fact, the I. W. W. are a distinct group, and are in no way 
affiliated with the French syndicalists. 

The I. W. W. movement can be traced to a miners’ strike 
in Colorado in 1903. As the result of the labor unrest which 
this strike accentuated, a conference of radical labor leaders 
was called in Chicago in 1904, to discuss the question of forming 
a socialist organization which should advocate methods more 
drastic than those of political socialism. In the summer of 
1905 a second convention was held in Chicago, and a consti¬ 
tution was drawn up and subscribed to. Section 1 of Article I of 
this constitution reads: “This Organization shall be known 
as the ‘Industrial Workers of the World.’” 

135. The I. W. W. and the political socialists: similari¬ 
ties. — Like the political socialists, the I. W. W. go back to 
Karl Marx for their basic teachings. William D. Haywood, 
one of the I. W. W. leaders, accepted Marx’s theory of surplus 
value in these terms: “The theory of surplus value is the be¬ 
ginning of all socialist knowledge. It shows the capitalist in 
his true light, that of an idler and a parasite. It proves to the 
workers that capitalists should no longer be permitted to 
take any of their product.” The I. W. W. also stress the class 
struggle. The preamble to their constitution declares that 
“the working class and the employing class have nothing in 
common,” and asserts that “between these two classes a 


114 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

struggle must go on until all the workers of the world organize 
as a class, take possession of the earth, and the machinery of 
production, and abolish the wage system.” In these important 
particulars there is agreement between the I. W. W. and the 
political socialists. 

136. The I. W. W. and the political socialists: differences. — 

The chief difference between the two groups is one of method. 
The political socialists prefer political action to violence; the 
I. W. W. prefer violence to political action. The I. W. W. 
believe that political methods are altogether too slow and un¬ 
reliable, and accordingly they have so far refused to affiliate 
with any political party. The extreme limits to which the 
I. W. W. have gone in the matter of violence have caused 
many political socialists to disavow this militant group. The 
attempt has even been made to prove that the I. W. W. are 
not socialists at all, though as a matter of fact they are as 
truly so as is any other socialist group. 

137. I. W. W. methods: the strike. — The I. W. W. use the 
strike, not as a means of securing better working conditions, 
but as a method of fomenting revolution. “Instead of the 
conservative motto, ‘A fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work/ ” 
declares the preamble to their constitution, “we must inscribe 
on our banner the revolutionary watchword, ‘Abolition of 
the wage system.’ ” In their use of the strike, the I. W. W. 
accordingly oppose conciliation or arbitration of any kind, 
and whether or not they gain their point, they go back to work 
with the intention of striking again at the next opportune time. 
This policy has been formulated by the I. W. W. in the following 
words: “Strike; win as much as possible; go back to work; 
recuperate; strike again . . . whatever concessions from cap¬ 
italism the workers secure, sooner or later they will strike 
again.” 

The principal strikes initiated in pursuance of this policy 
occurred at McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, in 1909; Lawrence, 
Massachusetts, in 1912; Butte, Montana, in 1914; and Bisbee, 
Arizona, in 1916. Violence and lawlessness have been promi¬ 
nent features of each of these strikes. 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE I. W. W. 115 

138 . I. W. W. methods: sabotage.—The word sabotage is 
of French origin, and is used to describe any sort of deliberate 
action on the part of workmen which results in the destruction 
of the employer’s property. Sabotage is a species of guerrilla 
warfare, designed to foment the class struggle. Louis Levine, 
an I. W. W. sympathizer, has said that “ stirring up strife and ac¬ 
centuating the struggle as much as is in his power is the duty” 
of the I. W. W. Some of the commoner forms of sabotage 
are injuring delicate machinery, exposing the employer’s trade 
secrets to rival employers, lying to customers about the quality 
of the goods, crippling locomotives so that they cannot be op¬ 
erated, slashing the harness of teamsters, shipping perishable 
goods to the wrong destination, burning forests and wheat 
fields, sawing lumber into unusual lengths, and allowing food¬ 
stuffs to spoil or deteriorate. 

139 . I. W. W. methods: destruction of life. — In their effort 
to destroy the existing order of society, some of the I. W. W. are 
frankly willing to go as far as assassination. I. W. W. leaders 
have advised their followers, both orally and through their 
writings, to extend the term sabotage to cover the destruction 
of human life. During the World War the I. W. W. caused 
a loss of life by putting poison in canned goods, and by causing 
train wrecks. They have advocated the placing of ground glass 
in food served in hotels and restaurants. Since the organi¬ 
zation was formed in 1905, several bomb outrages resulting in 
loss of life have been charged against the I. W. W.,but in justice 
to this group, it must be observed that these crimes have never 
been proved to have been committed by authorized I. W. W. 
agents. 

140 . Negative character of the I. W. W. The I. W. W. 

resemble the political socialists in their failure to offer a definite 
system which could be substituted for the capitalistic system. 
Some of the I. W. W., it is true, have formulated a plan by 
means of which society is some day to be organized primarily 
on an industrial basis. According to this program, the workers 
of a given industry, say the railroad industry, will be organ¬ 
ized into a single union, rather than, as at present, into a number 


Il6 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

of trade unions, such as an engineers’ union, as distinct from 
the firemen’s union, the brakemen’s union, etc. The railroad 
union would in turn become a branch of a great transportation 
union, and the transportation union would in turn become a, 
division of the “One Big Union,” which is to include all work¬ 
ers in all countries of the world. 

If this plan were approved by the entire I. W. W. organi¬ 
zation, it would mean that the I. W. W. intended industry to 
be controlled by a super-organization of workingmen, all other 
persons to be excluded from any control whatsoever. As a 
matter of fact, this is the program of only a faction of the 
I. W. W. The idea of “One Big Union” is opposed by a 
second group, which insists that after the destruction of capi¬ 
talism, industry must be handed over to the exclusive control 
of small units of laborers, unaffihated with, and uncontrolled 
by, any larger organization. Beyond the formulation of these 
two opposing views, a constructive I. W. W. program has 
never been developed. Attention continues to be centered 
upon the destruction of the present system. 

141. Undemocratic character of the I. W. W. — The I. W. W. 
oppose our present democracy. They oppose our Consti¬ 
tution and its fundamental guarantees of personal liberty, 
individual rights, and private property. They seek revolution, 
not in order to secure justice for the masses, but in order to 
place the laboring class in complete power in industry and gov¬ 
ernment. They announce their intention of continuing the 
class struggle “until the working class is able to take possession 
and control of the machinery, premises, and materials of pro¬ 
duction right from the capitalists’ hands, and to use that con¬ 
trol to distribute the product of industry entirely among the 
workers.” 

142. Limited appeal of the I. W. W. program. — It is a tes¬ 
timonial to the common sense of American workmen that the 
I. W. W. have made little headway. Until the Lawrence strike 
in 1912, the movement centered in the Far West, and it is even 
now practically confined to those parts of the West where in¬ 
dustry is less well organized, and where family life is less stable. 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE I. W. W. 


117 

Miners, lumbermen, and railway construction workers are 
prominent in the movement. In general, the I. W. W. theory 
appeals chiefly to the lower strata of unskilled labor, to young 
and homeless workers, to transients, and to unassimilated 
immigrants. The better trained and the more intelligent 
American workmen reject the program of the I. W. W. These 
latter workmen believ.e in bettering their condition through 
the gradual development and enforcement of industrial stand¬ 
ards, made possible by lawful cooperation with the employer. 
The truth of this statement is borne out by the fact that whereas 
the I. W. W. number scarcely 30,000, the American Federa¬ 
tion of Labor has more than 4,000,000 members. Numeri¬ 
cally the I. W. W. are unimportant, and it is chiefly their 
violent and spectacular tactics which attract attention. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What do the letters I. W. W. stand for? 

2. How did the I. W. W. organization come into existence? 

3. In what ways are the I. W. W. like the political socialists? 

4. In what way do the I. W. W. differ from the political socialists? 

5. What use do the I. W. W. make of the strike? 

6. Define sabotage, and give some examples. 

7. Discuss “destruction of life” as an I. W. W. aim. 

8. Upon what basis do the I. W. W. expect to reorganize society? 

9. What is meant by “One Big Union”? 

10. What is the attitude of the I. W. W. toward democracy? 

11. To what classes of the population does the I. W. W. theory make 

its chief appeal? 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xiv. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bloomfield, Modern Industrial Movements, pages 40-50 and 78-86. 

3. Hoxie, Trade Unionism in the United States, chapter vi. 

4. International Encyclopedia, vol. 12, article on “Industrial Workers 

of the World.” 

5. Preamble to the Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the 

World. 


n8 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Name some of the unions represented in the I. W. W. convention 

of 1905. ( International Encyclopedia, page 150.) 

2. What do the I. W. W. insist must be the outcome of the class 

struggle? (Preamble to the constitution.) 

3. What sort of an organization do the I. W. W. believe to be es¬ 

sential if the condition of the workers is to be improved? (Pre¬ 
amble to the constitution.) 

4. What are the three reasons why the L W. W. expect to take over 

industry? (Bloomfield, page 80.) 

5. What may be said as to the present attitude of the I. W. W. 

toward political parties? ( International Encyclopedia, page 151.) 

6. What are some of the differences between the I. W. W. and the 

French syndicalists? (Bloomfield, pages 49-50.) 

7. What is the origin of the word sabotage? (Bloomfield, page 80.) 

8. To what extent is the I. W. W. movement supplied with able 

leaders? (Hoxie, pages 149-150.) 

9. Discuss the membership of the I. W. W. (Hoxie, pages 139-140.) 

10. Explain the attitude of the masses of American workmen toward 

the I. W. W. (Hoxie, pages 157-161.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Interview, or write to, the officials of a trade union in your com¬ 

munity with reference to the attitude of the trade union toward 
the I. W. W. (Many trade unions are bitterly opposed to 
the I. W. W.; others are more tolerant of this form of militant 
socialism.) 

2. Investigate the conditions surrounding any strike which has been 

initiated in your neighborhood by the I. W. W. (Consult the 
officials of a local trade union. Consult, also, the files of local 
newspapers and the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature.) 

3. A number of states have recently passed laws restricting the de¬ 

structive tactics of the I. W. W. Ascertain whether or not your 
state has passed such laws. (Write to the state library at the 
state capitol.) 

Also write to the proper authorities in several other states, asking 
for a copy of such laws, if any have been passed in those states. 

11 

4. Origin of the I. W. W. (Groat, Organized Labor in America, 

chapter xxvii.) 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE I. W. W. 119 

5. The theory of “direct action.” (Bloomfield, Modern Industrial 

Movements , pages 62-67.) 

6. Conflict of aims and ideals within the I. W. W. organization. 

(Hoxie, Trade Unionism in the United States, chapter vi.) 

7. Sabotage. (Groat, Organized Labor in America, chapter xxviii.) 

8. Theory of the “general strike.” (Brooks, American Syndicalism: 

The I. W. W., chapter x.) 

9. Syndicalism. ( International Encyclopedia, vol. 21, article on 

“Syndicalism.”) 

10. Relation of the I. W. W. theory to anarchism. (Brooks, Ameri¬ 
can Syndicalism : The I. W. W., chapter xiv.) 


CHAPTER XV 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE BOLSHEVISTS 

143. Significance of bolshevism. — The term “bolshevist” 
is used to designate a group of militant socialists that seized 
power in Russia in the fall of 1917. Strictly speaking, the 
bolshevists were purely a Russian group, nevertheless, they are 
of interest to students of American democracy. Until the out¬ 
break of the World War socialism was primarily a theory, the 
claims of which could not definitely be settled for the reason 
that it had never been applied on a large scale. Bolshevism is 
significant because it is the only instance in the history of the 
world where nation-wide socialism has actually been put into 
operation. The peculiar conditions surrounding the Russian 
experiment may prevent any detailed conclusions as to the 
availability of bolshevist experience for other countries; on 
the other hand, the general results of that experiment must 
throw some light upon what we might expect if a socialist 
experiment were made in other countries. It is important, 
therefore, that we inquire into the nature of the Russian 
socialist state. 

144. Origin of the bolshevists. — There is a popular impres¬ 
sion that since the word bolshevist means “majority” in the 
Russian language, the bolshevists represented or constituted a 
majority of the Russian people. This is not true, as the history 
of the group shows. The origin of the bolshevists dates from a 
convention of the Russian Social-Democratic party in 1903, 
at which time a majority ( bolshinstvo ) took an extreme stand 
upon the policies then being discussed in convention. In the 
years that followed the bolshevists became known as the radi¬ 
cal or extreme wing of the Russian Social-Democratic party, 
as opposed to the menshevists, or moderate wing. 

It appears that as early as 1905 the bolshevists planned to 


120 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE BOLSHEVISTS 121 

secure control of the Russian government. The opportunity 
presented itself during the World War, which Russia had 
entered early in August, 1914. In March, 1917, a non-bol- 
shevist group initiated a revolution, which overthrew the gov¬ 
ernment of the Czar and established a provisional government 
under the leadership of Alexander Kerensky. This government 
immediately instituted a number of democratic reforms, in¬ 
cluding the extension of the suffrage to all men and women who 
were Russian citizens. These citizens elected delegates to a 
constituent assembly, but at this point the bolshevists, seeing 
that the voters of Russia were overwhelmingly against bol¬ 
shevism, attacked the new government. The constituent 
assembly was forcibly dissolved, its defenders slaughtered, 
and on November 7, 1917, the bolshevists seized the reins of 
government. Thus bolshevism as a government came into 
being as the result of suppressing the lawfully expressed will 
of the Russian people. 

145. The bolshevist constitution: liberal elements. — On 
July 10, 1918, the bolshevists adopted a constitution. This 
remarkable document was a strange compound of liberal and 
despotic elements. It made a number of important promises 
to the people of Russia, announcing, for example, that the new 
government would “put an end to every ill that oppresses 
humanity.” In pursuit of this ideal, the church was separated 
from the state, and complete freedom of conscience was accorded 
all citizens of Russia. Citizens were to enjoy complete freedom 
of speech and of the press. For the purpose of “securing free¬ 
dom of expression to the toiling masses,” provision was made 
for the free circulation throughout the country of newspapers, 
books, and pamphlets. Full and general education to the 
poorest peasantry was also promised. Capital punishment 
was declared abolished, and a solemn protest against war and 
violence of every kind was adopted. 

146. The bolshevist constitution: restricted suffrage. — 
These liberal provisions were offset, however, by a number of 
important restrictions upon the voting rights of the people. 
Article IV of the bolshevist constitution declared that the right 


122 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

to vote should not be extended to the following groups: all 
persons employing hired laborers for profit, including farmers 
who have even a single part-time helper; all persons re¬ 
ceiving incomes from interest, rent, or profits; all persons 
engaged in private trade, even to the smallest shop-keeper; 
all ministers of religion of any kind; all persons engaged in work 
which was not specifically defined by the proper authorities 
as “productive and useful to society”; members of the old 
royal family; and individuals formerly employed in the im¬ 
perial police service. The constitution further provided that 
representation in the various deliberative assemblies (called sovi¬ 
ets, or councils) should be arranged so that one urban bolshevist 
would be equal, in voting strength, to five non-bolshevist peas¬ 
ants. Lastly, the constitution significantly neglected to provide 
any machinery whereby the voters, either as individuals or 
in groups, could make nominations for any governmental 
office. The power of nomination was assumed by various 
bolshevist officials. 

147 . The bolshevist constitution: provision for a des¬ 
potism. —• The bolshevist constitution frankly provided for 
a despotism. “For the purpose of securing the working class 
in the possession of complete power,” reads the concluding sec¬ 
tion of chapter two of the constitution, “ and in order to elim¬ 
inate all possibility of restoring the power of the exploiters, 
(the capitalist or employing class), it is decreed that all workers 
be armed, and that a socialist Red Army be organized and the 
propertied class disarmed.” These steps, the constitution 
goes on to state, were to be taken for the express purpose of 
introducing nation-wide socialism into Russia. 

148 . “Dictatorship of the proletariat.” — Shortly after the 
publication of the constitution, Lenin and Trotzky, the two 
bolshevist leaders, established what was called the “dictator¬ 
ship of the proletariat.” The word proletariat refers vaguely 
to the working classes, but the bolshevists interpreted the 
term to cover only that portion of the workers which was 
pledged to the support of socialist doctrine. Lenin admitted 
that a small number of bolshevized workingmen, the prole- 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE BOLSHEVISTS 123 

tariat, was maintaining, by force of arms, a despotic control 
over the masses of the people. “Just as 150,000 lordly land- 
owners under Czarism dominated the 130,000,000 of Russian 
peasants,” he once declared, “so 200,000 members of the bol- 
shevist party are imposing their will on the masses.” According 
to these figures, the controlling element in Russia included 
less than one sixth of one per cent of the people. 

From the first, the great majority of the peasants stolidly 
resisted the socialization of the country, but this did not dis¬ 
courage the bolshevist leaders. “We have never spoken of 
liberty,” said Lenin early in 1921. “We are exercising the 
dictatorship of the proletariat in the name of the minority 
because the peasant class in Russia is not yet with us. We shall 
continue to exercise it until they submit. I estimate the dic¬ 
tatorship will last about forty years.” 

149. Suppression of democracy. — The democratic tenden¬ 
cies evidenced under the Kerensky regime, and apparently 
encouraged by some of the provisions of the bolshevist con¬ 
stitution, were quickly checked by the dictatorship. It became 
the policy of the government to deprive “all individuals and 
groups of rights which could be utilized by them to the detri¬ 
ment of the socialist revolution.” The semblance of a repre¬ 
sentative system was retained, but voting power was so dis¬ 
tributed as to allow an oligarchic group to control the govern¬ 
ment’s policies. This group had the power to disallow elections 
which went against it, as well as the power to force the dis¬ 
missal from local soviets of anti-bolshevist members. The right 
to vote could be arbitrarily withdrawn by order of the central 
authorities. Free speech and the right to enjoy a free press 
were suppressed. Lenin admitted that bolshevism “does not 
represent the toiling masses,” and declared that “the word 
democracy cannot be scientifically applied to the bolshevist 
party.” Both Lenin and Trotzky declared that they had 
no fixed policy except to do whatever at the moment seemed 
expedient, regardless of previous statements or promises. 

150. Abolition of the capitalistic system. — Socialism, so 
long a theory, became a practical concern at the moment that 


124 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the bolshevists secured control of the government. Private 
property in land was abolished, the arable land of Russia being 
apportioned among agriculturists without compensation to 
the former owners. All mines, forests, and waterways of 
national importance were taken over by the central govern¬ 
ment, while the smaller woods, rivers, and lakes became the 
property of the local soviets. Banking establishments were 
seized and looted by bolshevist forces. Factories, railroads, 
and other means of production and transport were taken 
over. Inheritance was abolished. Private initiative in busi¬ 
ness was forbidden. Members of the capitalist or employing 
classes were imprisoned, murdered, or driven from the country. 
In a word, the capitalistic system was destroyed, and the 
economic and political machinery of the country came under 
the full control of a small socialist group, maintained in 
power by armed force. 

151. Paralysis of industry under socialism. — The sub¬ 
stitution of socialism for capitalism in Russia was followed 
by disaster. The workers were unable to carry on the indus¬ 
tries which had been handed over to them. Discouraged by 
repeated errors in administration, and demoralized by their 
sudden rise to power, they neglected their work and pillaged 
the factories and shops in which they had formerly been em¬ 
ployed. The elimination of the managing employers resulted 
in a decrease in output, and to aggravate the situation the 
laborers continued to insist upon a shorter and shorter working 
day. In desperation the government attempted to keep the 
people at their tasks by force. The workers were exploited 
to a degree previously unknown, even in Russia. They worked 
longer hours and for less pay than formerly. In many places 
they were attached to their tasks like medieval serfs, and even 
harnessed to carts like beasts of burden. The trade unions 
were abolished, and the workers were forbidden to strike, on 
pain of imprisonment or death. Yet despite these measures 
the output of factories, mills, and mines steadily decreased. 
Industry stagnated, and business fell away. The millions 
of Russia were starving in a land of plenty. 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE BOLSHEVISTS 125 

152. Return to capitalistic methods. — To save the country 
from economic ruin, Lenin turned to capitalism. Free initia¬ 
tive and open competition in trade were again allowed. The 
socialization of railroads, mills, and natural resources was halted. 
The arable land, which under socialism had not grown enough 
food to support even the peasants living upon it, was again 
cultivated under the wage system. The capitalists and man¬ 
aging employers who were alive and still in Russia, were gathered 
together and placed in charge of industry. The laborers, who 
had been promised an eight- or six-hour day and complete 
control of industry, were now forced by the bolshevist govern¬ 
ment to work long hours under their former employers for 
practically no pay. By 1919 the essential features of the 
capitalistic system had been accepted by Lenin and Trotzky, 
the bolshevists continuing in power as a despotic group which 
maintained authority over the laborers and the employers by 
armed force. The theory that all except the laborers are 
parasites had been exploded. 

153. Was socialism given a fair trial in Russia? — To point 
out that an experiment has failed is one thing; to prove that it 
has been attempted under fair conditions is quite another. 
We cannot, therefore, condemn the bolshevist experiment with¬ 
out some regard for the conditions under which it was con¬ 
ducted. 

Undoubtedly, the bolshevists had to contend against several 
important difficulties. The majority of the Russian people 
are illiterate peasants, who had had, at the time of the over¬ 
throw of the Czar in 1917, little or no training in self-govern¬ 
ment. In 1917, Russia was, moreover, in a state of political 
demoralization, the result of three years of war, concluded by 
a military debacle and a disorderly peace. The suddenness 
with which socialism was introduced was also a factor which 
handicapped the bolshevists. 

On the other hand, many favorable conditions were present. 
With respect to natural resources, Russia is one of the richest 
countries in the world. She has practically everything necessary 
to a healthy and self-sufficing industrial life. Over this wealth 


126 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


the bolshevists had full control. Lenin, the bolshevist chief, 
is conceded to have been a remarkable executive, so that the 
socialist experiment was conducted by a man not only well 
versed in Marxian doctrine, but capable of exercising an in¬ 
telligent and authoritative control of the government. The 
bolshevist territory was blockaded by Great Britain, France, 
and the United States, but trade connections between Russia 
and the two last-named countries had been unimportant. Trade 
connections with Germany and Sweden on the west, and China 
on the east, were not broken off. 

It is clear that the socialist experiment in Russia was attended 
by important advantages and disadvantages. Whether or not 
bolshevism had an absolutely fair trial is as yet impossible to 
say. On the other hand, the disastrous failure of the experi¬ 
ment would seem to indicate that it could not have met with 
any great degree of success under fairly favorable conditions. 
The admissions of the bolshevist leaders themselves, together 
with the conclusions of the most impartial investigators of the 
experiment, justify the conclusion that socialism in Russia 
failed because it was based upon false principles. The bol¬ 
shevists have been accused of having instituted a reign of terror, 
bringing in its train lawlessness, murder, desecration of the 
church, and the most brutal savagery. Into these charges we 
cannot go; it is enough that the most reliable evidence goes 
to show that bolshevism, as a nation-wide application of 
socialist doctrine, was a failure. 

154. Failure of bolshevist propaganda beyond Russia. — 
Bolshevism, in common with other varieties of socialism, 
sought to break down national barriers and to establish a dic¬ 
tatorship of the proletariat in all of the countries of the world. 
Some of the milder socialists in western Europe and America 
disavowed the acts of the Russian group, but the majority of 
socialists beyond Russia appear to have at least secretly sym¬ 
pathized with the bolshevists. Encouraged by this attitude, 
Lenin and Trotzky frankly admitted their intention of foment¬ 
ing world-wide revolution. The bolshevist government appro¬ 
priated large sums for propaganda in countries beyond Russia, 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE BOLSHEVISTS 


127 


and socialist sympathizers everywhere advocated an attempt 
to overthrow “world capitalism.” In the period of unrest 
immediately following the World War there was some response 
to bolshevist propaganda in a number of countries, but sounder 
opinion prevailed, and in 1920 Lenin admitted that the work¬ 
ingmen of Europe and America had definitely rejected his 
program. The one case of nation-wide socialism had proved 
too great a failure not to impress the laboring classes in the 
more advanced countries of the world as a visionary and 
unworkable scheme. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Why is bolshevism of interest to students of American democracy? 

2. Explain the origin of the bolshevists. 

3. How did the bolshevists come into power? 

4. To what extent was the bolshevist constitution liberal? 

5. To what extend did it restrict the suffrage? 

6. What did the bolshevist constitution say concerning a “red” 

army? 

7. Explain the phrase, “dictatorship of the proletariat.” 

8. How did the bolshevists suppress democracy in Russia? 

9. Outline the steps by which the bolshevists destroyed capitalism. 

10. What were the effects of this destruction? 

11. Why did Lenin return to capitalism? 

12. Was bolshevism given a fair trial? 

13. What was the fate of bolshevist propaganda beyond Russia? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xv. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bloomfield, Modern Industrial Movements, pages 295-302. 

3. Bolshevist constitution, reprinted in the above reference, pages 

243-258; copies may also be secured by writing to The Nation, 
New York City. 

4. Brasol, Socialism versus Civilization, chapter iii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What occurred in Russia on October 28,1917? (Brasol, page 113.) 

2. What was the substance of the bolshevist announcement of the 

overthrow of the Kerensky government? (Brasol, page 114.) 


128 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

3. What was the attitude of the menshevists toward the bolshevists 

after the latter had seized control in Russia? (Brasol, pages 
120-122.) 

4. What opinion did the bolshevists express with regard to world 

civilization ? (Bolshevist constitution, chapter iii.) 

5. In what body did the constitution vest supreme control over the 

bolshevist government? (Bolshevist constitution, chapter v.) 

6. What was the food situation in bolshevist Russia? (Brasol, 

page 129.) 

7. Discuss the output of coal and iron under bolshevist rule, (Brasol. 

pages 132-133.) 

8. Describe agricultural conditions under the bolshevists. (Brasol, 

pages 133-135*) 

9. Describe the condition of transportation in bolshevist Russia. 

(Brasol, pages 135-141.) 

10. What were the results of the bolshevist attempt to fix prices by 

governmental decree? (Brasol, pages 154-155.) 

11. What was the attitude of bolshevism toward the peasants? 

(Bloomfield, page 297.) 

12. What was the relation between bolshevist theory and bolshevist 

practice? (Bloomfield, pages 299-300.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Make as thorough a study as the time allows of material appearing 

in newspapers and magazines, between November, 1917, and the 
present time, on the subject of bolshevism. (Consult news¬ 
paper files, and also the Readers* Index to Periodical Literature.) 

(a) Classify the material according as it consists of direct 

quotations from bolshevist leaders, or of indirect quo¬ 
tations. 

(b) Classify the material according as it is favorable to bol¬ 

shevism, unfavorable, or neutral. 

(c) Classify the material according as it consists of reports of 

persons who had themselves actually investigated the 
situation in Russia, or reports based upon hearsay 
evidence. 

(d) What conclusions do you draw from this study? 

II 

2. The essential elements of the bolshevist constitution. 

3. Bolshevist propaganda in the United States. ( Hearings before 

a sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary , U. S. Senate. 
Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1019.) 


MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE BOLSHEVISTS 


129 


4. Attitude of the United States government toward bolshevism. 

(Memorandum on certain aspects of the Bolshevist Movement in 
Russia, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1919.) 

5. Bolshevism and the Russian trade unions. (Current History 

Magazine , published by the New York Times, September, 1920.) 

6. The character of Lenin. (Bloomfield, Modern Industrial Move- 

ments ,pages 263-271.) 

7. Return of the bolshevists to capitalism. (Bloomfield, Modern 

Industrial Movements, pages 291-295.) 

8. Socialist attempts to explain or justify the failure of bolshevism. 

(Brasol, Socialism versus Civilization, chapter iv.) 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM 

155. Administrative difficulties confronting socialism. — Un¬ 
der socialism the work of government would be greatly increased. 
Thousands of intricate administrative rules would have to be 
drawn up for the control and direction of activities now at¬ 
tended to by individuals animated by personal interest. 

Now, it is seriously to be questioned whether the most highly 
centralized government could effectively administer the in¬ 
numerable activities of our complex industrial life. Upon 
what basis would land be distributed? How would individuals 
be apportioned among the various employments? Upon what 
basis would the wages of millions of workmen be determined? 
Could so mechanical an agency as government foresee future 
business conditions expertly enough to direct the productive 
forces of the nation effectively? If prices are no longer to be 
fixed by competition, how, and by means of what agency, 
are they to be determined? 

These are only a few of the vital questions which would arise 
in connection with the administration of a socialist state. Va¬ 
rious suggestions have been made with regard to some of these 
difficulties, but there is among socialists no general agreement 
as to the answer of any one of these questions. They continue 
to constitute, in the eyes of practical men, a grave obstacle 
to socialism. 

156. Dangers of a socialist bureaucracy. — Governmental 
power would have to be very highly centralized if a socialist 
state were effectively to administer the nation’s economic 
activities as a unit. But this very concentration of power 
might easily result in the development of a bureaucracy. Waste 
and the possibility of corruption have unfortunately charac- 

130 


THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM 


13 1 

terized even those governments over which the people exer¬ 
cise considerable control; it seems probable that the greater 
centralization of authority demanded by socialism would in¬ 
crease rather than decrease these dangers. 

It is to be noted here that the socialists, who might be 
supposed to consider as paramount the interests of society or of 
the public, are the very people who are least inclined to do 
anything of the kind. 1 Socialists look upon the state only as 
an agency for benefiting particular groups of individuals. The 
emphasis of political socialism upon class struggle, the frank 
admissions of the I. W. W. that they seek to suppress all 
but the laboring class, and the establishment by the bolshevists 
of a dictatorship of the proletariat, all these facts indicate that 
socialists seek the welfare of particular groups rather than the 
welfare of the general public. 

But class legislation is repugnant to the principles of Ameri¬ 
can democracy. We believe in government by the masses and 
for the masses; furthermore, we are committed to the ideal 
of as much individual freedom and as little governmental 
compulsion as is compatible with the good of both individual 
and community. The concept of a socialist bureaucracy, 
administered in the interests of particular groups, runs counter 
to our fundamental beliefs and ideals. 

157. Socialism would destroy personal initiative. — One of 
the strongest arguments against socialism is that it would de¬ 
stroy personal initiative. Socialism runs counter to human 
nature by under-valuing the principle of self-interest. Econo¬ 
mists are generally agreed that the abolition of the institu¬ 
tion of private property would cause the ambition of the 
individual to slacken. In spite of its defects, it is the com¬ 
petitive system, with its promise of reward to the energetic 
and the capable, which is largely responsible for the miraculous 
prosperity of modern times. Men ordinarily will not undergo 
systematic training, perfect inventions, strive to introduce 
greater and greater economies into their business, or under- 

1 This concept was suggested to me by Professor Thomas Nixon 
Carver of Harvard University. 


i3 2 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


take the risk of initiating new enterprises, unless they are 
assured that they will be able to enjoy the fruits of their 
labor. 

And not only would socialism discourage ambition by 
abolishing private enterprise, but it might encourage ineffi¬ 
ciency and shiftlessness. Every man would be guaranteed 
a job, every individual would be protected against want. It 
is even likely that a socialist state would undertake to rear 
and provide for the offspring of its citizens. Human experience 
indicates that this degree of paternalism would encourage 
laziness and increase irresponsibility. 

It is sometimes said that under socialism men would work 
as eagerly for social esteem as they now work for financial 
gain. This would be a highly desirable condition, but unfor¬ 
tunately there is nothing in human experience to justify the 
hope that such a state of affairs will speedily be realized. The 
spread of altruism in the modern world is heartening, but no 
sensible person will shut his eyes to the fact that, for the im¬ 
mediate future at least, self-interest promises to be much more 
widespread than altruism. The love of gain may not be the 
highest motive in life, but it is better than none, and for a long 
time to come it will probably be the one which appeals most 
strongly to the average man. Socialists and non-socialists 
alike deplore the domination which self-interest exercises over 
human affairs. But whereas the non-socialist wisely tries to 
adapt a program of industrial reform to this hard fact, many 
socialists appear to believe that because the principle of self- 
interest often works out badly, they ought to act as though 
that principle did not exist. 

158. Socialist theory of distribution unsound. — Both 
socialists and non-socialists admit that poverty is an unde¬ 
sirable condition. But over the method of improving the con¬ 
dition of the poor the socialist and the non-socialist disagree. 
The defender of capitalism begins by pointing out that, under 
competitive conditions, the unskilled laborer is poor primarily 
because his labor is not highly productive. The socialist ignores 
this fact, and insists that the laborer shall receive a share of 


THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM 


I 33 


wealth which shall be adequate to his needs. As we shall have 
occasion to point out in the next chapter, this attitude of the 
socialist indicates a fundamental defect in his theory. So¬ 
cialism pays more attention to who shall eat and how much shall 
be eaten, than it does to the more fundamental question of how 
food is to be produced, and how much can actually be produced. 
Laws may oblige an employer to give his workmen twice as 
much as they add to the value of his product, but though this 
will benefit the workmen while it lasts, such a practice would, 
if widely adopted, lead to industrial bankruptcy. 1 

159. Socialist theory of value unsound. — Many of the 
defects of the socialist doctrine are traceable to the fact that it 
rests upon false assumptions. One of these false assumptions 
is that commodities have value in proportion as labor has been 
expended upon them. This labor theory of value has been 
discarded by every authoritative economist of modern times. 
As has been pointed out in Chapter VIII, value depends 
upon scarcity and utility. The soundness of the scarcity- 
utility theory, as well as the unsoundness of the labor theory, 
may be brought out with reference to three classes of goods. 

First, there are commodities which have value in spite of the 
fact that no labor has been expended upon them. Virgin land, 
the gift of Nature, is the most important example. Articles 
of this class have value because they satisfy men’s wants, i.e. 
have utility, and because they are scarce. Labor has nothing 
to do with their original value. 

Second, there are commodities which have no value, even 
though much labor has been expended upon them. A building 
erected in a desert or in a wilderness is an example. Un¬ 
wanted books, or paintings by unknown artists are other ex¬ 
amples. Commodities in this class may represent a great 
expenditure of labor, and still have no value, first because they 
do not satisfy anyone’s wants, and second because they 

1 It is assumed, in this section, that the productivity of the laborer 
is determined from the point of view of the employer. This is in 
accordance with the productivity theory which was discussed in 
Chapter IX. 


134 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


are not scarce, i.e. there are not fewer of them than are 
wanted. 

Third, articles may have a value which is out of proportion 
to the amount of labor expended upon them. The value of 
diamonds, old coins, and rare paintings is disproportionate 
to the actual amount of labor involved in their production. 
A sudden change in fashion may cause the value of clothing 
and other commodities to rise or fall, with little or no regard 
for the amount of labor expended upon them. In each case it 
is not labor that determines value, but scarcity and utility. 

160. Labor not the only factor in production. — Labor is 
an important factor in production, but land, capital, coor¬ 
dination, and government are also of vital importance to any 
modern industrial community. The great error of the socialist 
is that he over-estimates the importance of the laborer, and mini¬ 
mizes or altogether denies the importance of the individuals 
with whom the laborer cooperates in production. This error 
is explainable: the laborer does most of the visible and physi¬ 
cal work of production, while the part played by the land- 
owner, the capitalist, and the entrepreneur is less physical and 
often is apparently less direct. The complexity of the indus¬ 
trial mechanism very often prevents the laborer from appre¬ 
ciating the true relation existing between his own physical 
labor, and the apparently indirect and often non-physical 
efforts of those who cooperate with him. It is in this connection 
that producers’ cooperation and bolshevism have performed 
a great service. They have demonstrated, by the out-and-out 
elimination of the managing employer, that the laborer alone 
cannot carry on modern industry. Such actual demonstrations 
of the value of factors of production other than labor are of 
far more service in correcting the viewpoint of the socialist 
than is any amount of theoretical argument. 

161. Theory of class struggle unwarranted. — The theory 
of class struggle is based upon the claim that the laborer pro¬ 
duces all wealth. But we have seen this claim to be unfounded; 
therefore the theory of class struggle is built upon an error. 
Ultimately, the theory of class struggle tends to injure the very 


THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM 


T 35 


class which seeks to gain by advocating it, for true and perma¬ 
nent prosperity for the laboring class (as well as for all other 
classes) can result only when all of the factors of production 
work together harmoniously. Fundamentally the quarrel 
between capital and labor 1 is as suicidal as though the arms 
of a human body refused to cooperate with the other members,. 
There are, indeed, many antagonisms between capital and labor, 
but socialism seeks to foment, rather than to eliminate them. 
Socialism preaches social solidarity and prosperity for all, but 
by inciting the class struggle it makes for class hatred and a 
disharmony between capital and labor which decreases pros¬ 
perity and threatens economic ruin. 

162. History has disproved socialism. — Karl Marx bases 
his theory of a future socialist state upon a number of pre¬ 
dictions, none of which has come true. According to Marx, 
socialism was inevitable. He declared that the centralization 
of wealth in the hands of the capitalists, on the one hand, and 
the increasing misery of the workers on the other, would ac¬ 
centuate the class struggle and bring about the downfall of 
capitalism. As a matter of fact, laws are more and more re¬ 
stricting the undue concentration of wealth in the hands of a 
few. The middle classes, far from disappearing, as Marx 
predicted, are increasing in numbers and in wealth. The 
working classes are not becoming poorer and more miserable, 
but are securing a larger and larger share of the joint income 
of industry. 

The socialist revolution came in 1917 , not in the most 
enlightened country in the world, as Marx had predicted, but 
in Russia, one of the most backward of civilized countries. 
This revolution did not demonstrate the superiority of so¬ 
cialism over capitalism, but revealed the fundamental weak¬ 
nesses of socialism, and led to a more widespread recognition 
of the merits of the capitalistic system. 

1 The phrase “capital and labor” is loose and inaccurate, but is in 
common use. Used in this sense the word “capital” refers to the 
capitalist and employing classes, while the word “labor ” refers to the 
workers. See Section 181, Chapter XVIII, for a fuller discussion. 


136 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

In the progressive countries of western Europe and America, 
the likelihood of a socialist revolution has been greatly dimin¬ 
ished by two developments. These developments, both of 
which were unforeseen by Marx, are as follows: first, the 
improving condition of the workers has rendered socialist 
doctrine less appealing; second, the increasing effectiveness of 
legislation designed to remedy the defects of capitalism has 
caused attention to be directed to legislative reform rather 
than to socialism. With many who were formerly socialists, the 
supreme question has become, not how to destroy the present 
order, but how to aid in perfecting it by means of appropriate 
legislation. 

163. Socialism claims too much. — Socialism often appeals 
strongly to people who are unable to distinguish between 
plans which are realizable and promises which cannot be ful¬ 
filled. For example, socialism promises greatly to increase 
the productive power of the nation, to shorten the hours of 
labor, and to insure a iust distribution of wealth. These 
reforms, it is claimed, would be accompanied by the elim¬ 
ination of unemployment, poverty, vice, and attendant evils. 
It is maintained that socialism would encourage a higher 
moral tone and a healthier and more vigorous social life than 
now exist. 

Without doubt these are desirable aims, but we must face 
the hard fact that socialism is not likely to attain them. Some 
of the ills which socialism claims to be able to cure are neither 
attributable to capitalism, nor open to remedy by socialism. 
For example, crises and unemployment are often due to the 
alternations of good and bad harvests, to the varying degrees 
of severity in successive winters, to new mechanical inventions, 
and to changes in fashion. These forces are beyond the effec¬ 
tive control of any state. This being so, it is unfair for socialists 
to attribute their evil effects to capitalism. It is likewise 
unwarranted that socialism should claim to be able effectively 
to control these forces. 

Other industrial evils are due to the infirmities of human 
nature, and to the fact that we are a highly civilized people 


THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM 


I 37 


living more and more under urban conditions. Crime, vice, and 
disease are grave social problems which demand solution, but 
it is unfair for socialism to charge these evils against capitalism. 
Such defects are due partly to the fact that we are human, and 
partly to the fact that much of modern life is highly arti¬ 
ficial. Unless socialism contemplates a return to small, 
primitive communities, there is nothing to indicate that it 
would be able materially to reduce crime, vice, nervous strain, 
or ill-health. Indeed, there is no evidence to show that socialism 
could make as effective headway against these evils as we are 
making under capitalism. 

164. Defects of socialism outweigh its merits. — It is only 
after the advantages of a system or an institution have been 
carefully weighed against its disadvantages that its value appears. 
A socialist system would have some obvious merits. It might 
eliminate unemployment, since everyone would be an em¬ 
ployee of the state, and, as such, would be guaranteed against 
discharge. Charitable aid would probably be extended to many 
people now left to their own resources. 

But certainly socialism could not cure ills which are due either 
to natural causes, or to the infirmities of human nature. The 
abolition of private initiative and of private property would 
strike at the root of progress. Socialism would also probably 
give rise to a series of new problems, such as the evils 
arising out of a bureaucratic form of government. As its pro¬ 
gram now stands, it is probably fair to say that the defects 
of socialism greatly outweigh its merits. 

165. Socialism under-rates capitalism. — The ardor of the 
socialist often causes him to underestimate the merits of capi¬ 
talism, and to exaggerate its defects. The striking achieve¬ 
ments of capitalism, so in contrast with the negative character 
of socialism, are not generally appreciated by the socialist. 
On the other hand, the socialist places an undue emphasis 
upon the defects of the present system. The radical agitator 
too often overlooks the millions of happy, prosperous homes 
in this and other countries; he too often sees capitalism in 
terms of poverty, crises, unemployment, vice, disease, and 
extravagance. 


138 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Our age is not to be despaired of. An age of progress is always 
an age of adaptation and of adjustment, and it is precisely be¬ 
cause American democracy is both a progressive ideal and a 
living, growing institution that it is confronted with problems. 
The socialist indictment is not a prelude to chaos, for through 
the process of adjustment we are making steady progress in 
solving our problems. Capitalism has served us well, and 
though it has defects, these are clearly outweighed by its merits. 
So long as we know of no other system which would work better, 
we are justified in retaining capitalism. 

166. Necessity of a definite program of industrial reform. — 
Socialism appeals to certain types of people because it offers a 
confident program, even though it is a mistaken and probably 
a dangerous program. And it is the almost universal failure 
of non-socialists to advance a substitute program that is responsi¬ 
ble for a large share of the resentment which industrial evils 
have aroused among non-socialists. If not socialism , what? 
is the cry. We are challenged to move, to do something, to 
present a reform program which will justify the rejection of 
socialism. 

Lest our survey of industrial reform seem negative and devoid 
of constructive elements, therefore, the next chapter will be 
devoted to what may be called a democratic program of indus¬ 
trial reform. The basic idea of this program is that poverty 
is as unnecessary as malaria or yellow feter, and that we can 
abolish poverty without sacrificing private property, personal 
initiative, or any of the other institutions which we hold dear. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What are some of the administrative difficulties which would 

confront a socialist state? 

2. Why would socialism tend to give rise to a bureaucratic govern¬ 

ment? 

3. In what way does socialism run counter to human nature? 

4. In what way does the socialist differ from the non-socialist in 

his attitude toward the principle of self-interest? 

5. In what way is the socialist theory of distribution unsound? 


THE CASE AGAINST SOCIALISM 


m 

6. Demonstrate the unsoundness of the labor theory of value, with 

reference to three classes of goods. 

7. How may we explain the socialist’s tendency to overestimate 

the importance of labor, and to underestimate the value of 
other factors of production? 

8. Explain clearly the statement that “history has disproved social¬ 

ism.” 

9. In what way does socialism claim too much? 

10. Name some industrial evils which socialism probably could not 

cure. 

11. What is meant by the statement that “socialism under-rates 

capitalism”? 

12. Why is it necessary for non-socialists to advance a program of 

industrial reform? 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter xvi. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Brasol, Socialism versus Civilization, chapter ii. 

3. Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, pages 681-705. 

4. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xxxi. 

5. Le Rossignol, Orthodox Socialism, chapters viii and ix. 

6. Skelton, Socialism, a Critical Analysis, chapter iii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is the “American conception of equality”? (Brasol, pages 

75 - 76 .) 

2. Why is the wage system a necessary feature of modern industrial 

life? (Brasol, page 93.) 

3. What is the importance of the spirit of enterprise in increasing 

national wealth? (Brasol, page 99.) 

4. What effect has the development of entrepreneur ability had upon 

the condition of the laboring classes? (Le Rossignol, pages 
112-113.) 

5. Could collective production be carried on in a democratic country? 

(Bullock, pages 682-683.) 

6. Could socialism increase the productivity of the nation? (Bullock, 

pages 685-688.) 

7. What are some of the difficulties which a socialist state would 

encounter in distributing wealth? (Bullock, pages 688-693.) 

8. What difficulties would confront a socialist state in fixing wages? 

(Bullock, pages 696—705.) 

9. What has been the effect of the Industrial Revolution upon the 

condition of the laboring classes? (Le Rossignol, pages 107-108.) 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


140 

10. Explain why Marx’s prediction of an increasing concentration of 

wealth in the hands of a few has not come true. (Le Rossignol, 
pages 128-130.) 

11. To what extent is socialism too pessimistic about the present 

order? (Le Rossignol, page 138.) 

12. To what extent does socialism overestimate industrial evils? 

(Skelton, page 53.) 

13. What service has been rendered by socialism? (Ely, page 638.) 

14. What, according to Skelton, is the fundamental error of socialism? 

(Skelton, pages 60-61.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Make a list of a number of familiar commodities, and divide 

them into three classes for the purpose of testing the error 
of the labor theory of value, and the truth of the scarcity- 
utility theory. (Consult Section 159.) 

2. Make a study of unemployment in your locality, with particular 

reference to unemployment due to 

(a) climatic changes, 

( b ) changes in fashion, 

( c) accidents, such as fire, flood or earthquake. 

3. Interview an elderly friend or relative, with the purpose of securing 

a definite idea of the condition of the working classes a half 
century ago. Contrast with the condition of the laborers to-day. 

4. Make a list of the notable inventions of the nineteenth century. 

To what extent has each increased the productivity and well¬ 
being of the various occupational groups in your community? 

II 

5. History of socialism. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

6. Varieties of socialism. (Ely, Outlines of Economics , chapter xxx.) 

7. The Iron Law of wages. (Le Rossignol, Orthodox Socialism, 

chapter iii.) 

8. The socialist’s attitude toward industrial crises. (Le Rossignol, 

Orthodox Socialism, chapter vi.) 

9 Objections to the socialist’s attitude toward production. (Ely, 
Strength and Weakness of Socialism, part iii, chapter vi.) 

10. Objections to socialism as a scheme of distribution. (Ely, Strength, 

and Weakness of Socialism, part iii, chapter viii.) 

11. Socialism and American ideals. (Myers, Socialism and American 

Ideals.) 

12. Social justice without socialism. (Clark, Social Justice without 

Socialism.) 


CHAPTER XVII 


A DEMOCRATIC PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM 1 

167 . There is no simple remedy for the defects of capi¬ 
talism.—The economic system of a modern civilized nation is 
a vast and complicated affair, and its defects are both numerous 
and deep-lying. No one really familiar with the problem would 
propose so simple a remedy as socialism for so complex a dis¬ 
ease as industrial maladjustment. History affords many ex¬ 
amples of schemes that were designed to eliminate poverty from 
the world suddenly and completely, but no such scheme has 
succeeded. 

Let it be understood at the outset of this chapter, therefore, 
that really to eliminate the basic defects of our industrial 
system we must resort to a series of comprehensive reforms rather 
than to a single scheme or theory. These reforms must be so 
wisely planned and so carefully executed as to attack the evils of 
capitalism from a number of angles simultaneously. The attack 
must be partly by legislative, and partly by non-legislative 
methods. 

The series of reforms referred to above must have three aims: 
first, to give every individual exactly what he earns; second, 
to make it possible for every individual to earn enough to 
support himself and his family at least decently; and third, to 
teach every individual to use wisely and economically the in¬ 
come which he receives. 

A program embodying these three aims has the disadvantage 
of seeming commonplace and slow of fulfillment to those who 
prefer novel and sensational schemes, but it has the advantage 
of being both workable and safe. 

1 The title of this chapter, as well as the material in Sections 170-175, 
has been adapted, by permission, from the writings and lectures of 
Thomas Nixon Carver, Professor of Economics in Harvard University. 


142 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


168 . The nature of justice. — Among the advocates of so¬ 
cialism the word “justice” is much used, but apparently little 
understood. Justice in industry implies that every individual 
shall receive precisely what he earns, no more, no less. If a 
monopolist secures unearned profits, there is injustice. If a 
laborer adds to the value of a product to the extent of five dollars, 
there is injustice if he receives less than five dollars in wages. 
Similarly, there is injustice if the laborer earns only four dollars, 
but receives five dollars. Wherever there is an unfair distri¬ 
bution of wealth, there is a double injustice: some individual 
gets a share of wealth which he did not earn and to which, 
therefore, he is not entitled; while the individual who did 
earn that wealth is deprived of it. 

169 . The importance of this. — All right-thinking reformers 
will agree with the socialist that much or all of the unearned 
wealth of the moneyed classes ought to be taken for the bene¬ 
fit of the community. But he who accepts the democratic 
program of industrial reform will not sanction the socialist’s 
proposal to eliminate poverty primarily by decreeing higher 
wages. 

In the first place, this proposal of the socialist is unjust. 
A man who earns three dollars a day may not be able to live on 
that amount, and it may be desirable for some agency to give 
him more than three dollars a day. But that would be charity, 
not justice. It would be, as-we have just seen, a double 
injustice. 

In the second place, such a practice would lead inevitably 
to national bankruptcy. Under the competitive system, wages 
tend to be determined by productivity. To attempt to erad¬ 
icate poverty primarily by the raising of wages is futile, for 
employers cannot long pay out in wages more than the laborer 
adds to the product. Some employers might do so for a long 
time, and all employers might do so for a short time, but if the 
practice were nation-wide and long-continued, it would result 
in economic ruin. To put a premium upon propagation by 
guaranteeing every man a job, and to pay him, not according 
to productivity, but according to need, would be equivalent to 


A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM 


143 


building up a gigantic charitable institution. Charity is a 
necessary and laudable function, but the proper care of the 
dependent classes is possible only when the majority of the 
people are not only self-supporting, but actually produce a 
surplus out of which the unfortunate can be cared for. If 
applicants for charity too largely outnumber those producing 
a surplus, national bankruptcy results. 

In the third place, an increase in wages might not bene¬ 
fit even those receiving higher wages unless they were able 
and willing to spend their income wisely and economically. 

170 . The redistribution of unearned wealth. — The first 
step in our program is to apply the principle of justice to the 
problem of unearned wealth. The student should be careful 
at this point to distinguish between wealth which has been 
earned, however great, and wealth which has been acquired 
by unjust methods. American democracy will tolerate no 
interference with wealth which has been earned; on the other 
hand, it demands that unearned riches be redistributed in the 
form of services performed by the government for the people 
as a whole. 

There are three chief methods of redistributing unearned 
wealth. The first is by means of increased taxes on land. 
As was pointed out in the chapter on single tax, that income 
from land which is due, not to the efforts of the owner, but 
either to natural fertility or to the growth of the community, 
may be considered as unearned. While the single tax is too 
drastic a reform, it is unquestioned that we need heavier taxes 
upon the unearned increment arising from land. 

A second method of redistributing unearned wealth is through 
the application of inheritance taxes. Reserving the whole 
problem of taxation for later discussion, 1 it may be said here 
that in many cases large sums are willed to individuals who 
have done little or nothing to deserve them. In so far as this is 
true, and in so far as such a tax does not discourage the activi¬ 
ties of fortune builders, the inheritance tax is a desirable means 
of redistributing unearned wealth. 

1 See Chapter XXXII. 


144 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


The last method of redistributing unearned wealth is by a 
tax on those elements in profits which are due to the abuse of 
monopoly conditions. 1 Complete monopoly rarely exists, but 
in many businesses there is an element of monopoly which 
allows the capitalist or entrepreneur to secure a measure of 
unearned wealth. In the interest of justice, much or all of 
this ought to be taken for the use of the community. 

171 . Something more than justice is necessary. — It is 
an error to suppose that justice would necessarily eliminate 
either low wages or poverty. As we have seen, justice would 
require the redistribution of a large amount of unearned wealth. 
But much more important is the question of large numbers of 
laborers whose wages are undesirably low. If the rule of jus¬ 
tice were applied to this latter class, that is, if they were given 
just what they earned, many would continue to be poor. In¬ 
deed, if justice were strictly administered, it is even possible 
that among a few groups poverty would increase, since some 
individuals are incapable of really earning the wages they now 
receive. 

Something more than justice, therefore, is necessary. We 
must not only see that a man gets as much as he produces, no 
more, no less, but we must make it possible for every individual 
actually to produce or earn enough to support himself decently 
or comfortably. This, in essence, is the distinction between the 
socialist and the liberalist, i.e. he who accepts the democratic 
program of industrial reform: the socialist would practice in¬ 
justice and invite economic ruin in a vain effort to eliminate 
poverty; the liberalist seeks the abolition of poverty without 
violating either justice or economic law. 

172 . Why wages are low. — A little thought will show that 
directly or indirectly poverty is sometimes the result of low 
wages. It follows, thus, that the source of some poverty would 
be dried up if an increase in wages could.be secured in an eco¬ 
nomical manner. To come to the heart of -the problem, wages 
are low because productivity is low. That is to say, em- 

1 Monopoly will be treated more fully in Chapters XXVII and 
XXVIII. 


A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM 


145 


ployers operating under conditions of free competition will 
pay laborers in proportion as the latter give promise of adding 
to the value of the product. When men are scarce, relatively 
to the supply of land and capital, the employer will be justified 
in offering high wages, because under those circumstances the 
productivity of each of his prospective employees will be high. 
He will actually offer high wages, because if he does not, the 
laborers will tend to hire out to his competitors. But if la¬ 
borers are plentiful, relatively to the supply of the other factors 
of production, the employer will be forced to offer lower wages, 
because under the circumstances each of the prospective em¬ 
ployees shows promise of being able to add relatively little to 
the value of the product. In such a case, the employer will 
actually offer low wages because he need not fear that his 
competitors will hire all of the laborers applying for jobs. 

Thus when laborers are plentiful, relatively to the demand, 
the automatic functioning of the law of supply and demand will 
result in low wages. We need not waste time debating whether 
or not there ought to be such a thing as the law of supply and 
demand; a far more profitable exercise is to recognize that such 
a law exists, and to consider how our program of industrial 
reform may be adapted to it. 

173 . An economical remedy for low wages. — Low wages are 
generally the result of low productivity, and low productivity 
is in turn the result of an oversupply of laborers relatively to 
the demand. Granting the truth of these premises, an econom¬ 
ical remedy for low wages involves two steps: first, the demand 
for labor 1 must be increased; and second, the supply of labor 
must be decreased. Any measure which will increase the de¬ 
mand for labor, relatively to the demand for the other factors 
of production, will increase the productivity of labor, and will 
justify the payment of higher wages. Competition between 
prospective employers will then actually force the payment of 
higher wages. Similarly, any measure which will decrease 
the supply of labor will strengthen the bargaining position 

1 By ‘Tabor” is here meant those types of labor which are poorly 
paid, because oversupplied. Unskilled day labor is an example. 


146 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


of the laborer, and, other things remaining equal, will auto¬ 
matically increase wages. 

174 . Increasing the demand for labor. — If we bear in mind 
that modern industry requires a combination of the various 
factors of production, it will be seen that the utilization of 
laborers depends upon the extent to which land, capital, and 
entrepreneur ability are present to combine with those laborers. 
Where there is a large supply of these factors, many laborers 
can be set to work. Thus one way of increasing the demand 
for labor is to increase the supply of land, capital, and en¬ 
trepreneur ability. 

The available supply of land can be increased by several 
methods. Irrigation, reclamation, and dry farming increase 
the available supply of farm land. The fertility of land may be 
retained and increased by manuring, rotation of crops, and 
careful husbandry. Improved agricultural machinery will 
also enable land to be used in larger quantities and in more pro¬ 
ductive ways. And while we do not think of man as actually 
creating land, the draining of swamps and the filling in of 
low places increases the available amount of both farm and 
urban land. By whatever means the amount of available 
land is increased, the effect is to open more avenues to the 
employment of laborers. 

The supply of capital may be increased chiefly by the practice 
of thrift among all classes of the population. Capital arises most 
rapidly when individuals produce as much as possible, and spend 
as little as possible for consumers’ goods. Any measure which 
will discourage the well-to-do from wasteful or luxurious ways 
of living, and at the same time encourage the poor to save 
systematically, even though they save only a trifle, will add to 
the supply of available capital. Every increase in the supply 
of capital will enable more and more laborers to be set to work. 

Entrepreneur ability m^y be increased by a variety of methods. 
The training of men for business callings increases the supply 
of entrepreneurs. Taxes on inheritances, excess profits, and the 
unearned increment of land will tend to force into produc¬ 
tive work many capable men who now either idle away their 


A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM 147 

lives, or retire from business prematurely. It is also important 
that the well-to-do classes be encouraged to rear larger fami¬ 
lies, since it is these classes which can best afford to give their 
children the higher forms of training and education. Lastly, 
it is desirable to teach that leisure is disgraceful, and that 
whether one is rich or poor, the useful and productive life is 
the moral and patriotic life. “He who does less well than he 
can does ill” 

175 . Decreasing the supply of labor. —Hand in hand with 
measures designed to increase the demand for labor should go 
consistent efforts to decrease the supply of unskilled and poorly 
paid labor. One of the most effective means of accomplishing 
this is to restrict by law the immigration to this country of 
masses of unskilled workers which glut the American labor 
market and force down the wages of unskilled workmen already 
here. The general problem of immigration will be discussed 
elsewhere; here it is only necessary to note that as an economic 
proposition unrestricted immigration is undesirable. 

The supply of unskilled labor may be somewhat restricted by 
additional laws. It is clear that we ought to pass and enforce 
laws which would prevent the propagation of mental defectives. 
There ought also to be laws which would discourage the marriage 
of individuals who show no promise of being able to rear and 
support children who are physically fit. It might not be ex¬ 
pedient to pass legislation requiring a certain minimum income 
of persons intending to marry, but from the purely economic 
point of view, such laws would certainly be advisable. 

Much in this general field can be done by non-legislative 
methods. Young people can be taught the desirability of 
postponing marriage until their earnings justify the acceptance 
of such a responsibility. Just as the well-to-do should be 
encouraged to prefer family-building to social ambition, so 
the poorer classes ought to be encouraged to postpone marriage 
until, through education or training, the proper support of a 
family is assured. This end must be secured through moral 
and social education, rather than through legislation. 

The encouragement of thrift among the poorer classes of 


148 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


the population is an important factor in decreasing the supply 
of unskilled labor. Thrift increases savings, and by making 
possible education or apprenticeship in a trade, it enables the 
children of the unskilled worker to pass from the ranks of the 
poorly paid to the ranks of the relatively well paid. Thus not 
only does the practice of thrift by the poor add to the amount 
of capital in existence, and thus indirectly increase the demand 
for labor, but it helps the poor directly and immediately. 

Vocational education is of fundamental importance in de¬ 
creasing the supply of unskilled labor. It renders higher wages 
economically justified by training individuals away from over¬ 
crowded and hence poorly paid jobs, and toward those posi¬ 
tions in which men are scarce, and hence highly paid. If vo¬ 
cational education turns unskilled workmen into entrepreneurs, 
such education has the doubly beneficial effect of lessening 
the supply of unskilled labor, and of increasing the demand 
for labor. The importance of trade schools, continuation 
schools, and other agencies of vocational education can hardly 
be exaggerated. 

Employment bureaus and labor exchanges are essential to 
the democratic program of industrial reform. Just as voca¬ 
tional education must move individuals from overcrowded 
to undercrowded occupations, so the employment bureau should 
move laborers from places where they are relatively little wanted, 
and hence poorly paid, to places where they are relatively 
much wanted, and hence better paid. A coordinated system 
of national, state, and municipal employment bureaus is a 
valuable part of our program of industrial reform. 

176 . Importance of personal efficiency. — We have seen 
that the bargaining position of the laborer may be strengthened 
by any and all measures which would increase the demand for 
his labor, relatively to the demand for the other factors of 
production. As a general proposition, this strengthened position 
would tend automatically to result in higher wages. 

Along with these measures it should not be forgotten that 
the industrial position of the individual worker tends to improve 
in proportion as he increases his personal efficiency. It is of 


A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM 


149 


the greatest importance that the individual should strive to 
secure as thorough an education as possible, and that he safe¬ 
guard himself against accident and disease. He should realize, 
also, that employers seek men who are not only competent, 
but whose personal habits are attractive and trust-inspiring. 
Regardless of the scarcity or oversupply of labor, personal 
efficiency will tend to enable the worker to receive larger wages 
than would otherwise be possible. 

177 . Something more than high wages is necessary. — We 
have taken some time to point out how wages might be in¬ 
creased without violating economic law. But high wages do 
not necessarily mean the abolition of poverty, indeed, actual 
investigations have proved that often poverty exists regard¬ 
less of whether wages are high or low. A family of four, for 
example, might be well fed, comfortably clothed, and other¬ 
wise cared for in a normal manner, on, say, three dollars a day, 
provided that sum were utilized wisely. A second family of 
equal size, however, might spend six dollars a day so care¬ 
lessly that the children would be denied such vital necessi¬ 
ties as medical attention and elementary education, while neither 
parents nor children would be adequately provided with food 
or clothing. 

178 . Income must be utilized wisely. — Thus an indis¬ 
pensable factor in the abolition of poverty is the economical 
utilization of income. Aside from the fact that it increases 
the amount of capital in existence, thrift is imperative if a family 
is to get the full benefit of its income. In both the home and 
the school the child should be taught the proper care and uti¬ 
lization of money. He should receive, in addition, fundamental 
instruction in such matters as expense-accounting and budget¬ 
making. Of similarly great value is the training of boys and 
girls to a proper appreciation of the home-making ideal, to which 
subject we shall return later. 1 

It is fortunate that we are directing more and more attention 
to these and similar measures, for they strike at the heart 
of one of the great causes of poverty — the inability of the 
1 See Chapter XXIII. 


150 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

individual to make the proper use of his income. Unless om- 
citizens are trained to spend money wisely, and to distinguish 
clearly between the relative values of services and commodities, 
an increase in wages will never eliminate malnutrition, illiteracy, 
and other elements of poverty. 

179 . Summary. — For the sake of clearness, let us summarize 
the essential features of the democratic program of industrial 
reform. 

The first aim of this program is to give every individual 
precisely what he earns, no more, no less. Applying the prin¬ 
ciple of justice would result in heavy taxes on unearned wealth 
secured through inheritance, or as rent from land, or as monopoly 
profits. 

The second aim of our program arises from the fact that 
justice might not improve the condition of the laboring class, 
since some laborers manifestly could not earn enough to support 
themselves and their families decently. 

In addition to administering justice, therefore, we must put 
the individual in a position to earn an amount adequate to 
his needs. This involves two lines of action: first, the bar¬ 
gaining position of the laborer must be strengthened by measures 
designed to increase the demand for his labor, relatively to the 
demand for the other factors of production; second, increasing 
the personal efficiency of the worker will render him more 
attractive to the employer. 

The third aim of the democratic program of industrial re¬ 
form is to teach the individual to use his income wisely and 
economically. Only after this has been done can we be assured 
that the raising of wages will materially improve the condition 
of the worker. 

180 . Social problems. — There is an important word to 
be said here. The democratic program of industrial reform 
is economically sound, and ultimately it would eliminate pov¬ 
erty. But it is not an immediate cure for all of the social and 
economic ills of American democracy. There will long con¬ 
tinue to be persons whom no amount of care can render capable 
of earning enough to support themselves. There are many 


A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM 


151 

other individuals who may ultimately become self-supporting, 
but who for some time to come will need special care and at¬ 
tention. There are, lastly, many other individuals who are 
partially or entirely self-supporting,—women and children, for 
example, — but whose social and economic interests need to 
be safeguarded by legislation. The democratic program of in¬ 
dustrial reform could ultimately eliminate many of the basic 
social problems now confronting us; meantime we are under 
the necessity of grappling with such questions as labor disputes, 
the risks of industry, crime, and dependency. Indeed, no matter 
how vigorously and intelligently we attack the defects of capi¬ 
talism, it is "probable that we shall always have to face grave 
social problems. Part III of the text will accordingly be 
devoted to a consideration of American social problems. 


Questions on the Text 

1. Why is there no simple remedy for the defects of capitalism? 

2. What are the three aims of the program advanced in this chapter? 

3. What is the nature of justice? 

4. In what sense is an unfair distribution of wealth a double injustice? 

5. Under what conditions would the raising of wages tend to result in 

national bankruptcy? 

6. What are the three chief methods of redistributing unearned 

wealth? 

7. Why does the elimination of poverty demand something more 

than justice? 

8. What is the fundamental cause of low wages? Explain clearly. 

9. What is an economical remedy for low wages? 

10. Why will higher wages result from an increase in the demand 

for labor? 

11. By what three methods may the demand for labor be increased? 

12. Name some of the methods whereby the supply of labor may be 

decreased. 

13. What is the importance of personal efficiency in our program? 

14. What is the relation of wages to poverty? 

15. What is the importance of an economical utilization of income? 

16. Summarize the argument in this chapter. 

17. Why is the program outlined not an immediate panacea for all 

social and economic ills? 


152 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xvii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Carver, Elementary Economics, chapters xiv, xxix, xxxi, and xlvii. 

3. Carver, Essays in Social Justice, chapter i. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Why does the need for justice arise? (Essays, page 3.) 

2. What is the first duty of the state? (Essays, page 9.) 

3. What is moral law? (Essays, page 23.) 

4. What is the relation of meekness to national strength? (Essays, 

pages 33-34-) 

5. What is meant by a “balanced nation”? (Elementary Economics, 

pages 118-119.) 

6. What is the aim of balancing a population? (Elementary Economics, 

page 119.) 

7. Name an important method of securing this balance. (Elementary 

Economics, pages 119-120.) 

8. What classes of the population multiply the least rapidly? Why is 

this undesirable? (Elementary Economics, page 120.) 

9. What is the object of the “geographical redistribution of pop¬ 

ulation”? (Elementary Economics, page 120.) 

10. Explain the working of the “law of variable proportions” in 

industry. (Elementary Economics, pages 258-260.) 

11. Why are there differences of wages in different occupations? 

(Elementary Economics, page 268.) 

12. What is the “law of population”? (Elementary Economics, page 

273 -) 

13. What is the effect of immigration upon wages? (Elementary 

Economics, pages 273-274.) 

14. What are the two ways of getting men to do what is necessary for 

the prosperity of the nation? Of these two ways, which is pref¬ 
erable? (Elementary Economics, pages 387-388.) 

15. What are the dangers of freedom? (Elementary Economics, pages 

. 389-390.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Make a study of the occupational groups in your locality for the 
purpose of discovering which of these groups receive the lowest 
wages. Can you connect the fact that they receive low wages 
with their numerical strength? 


A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL REFORM 


153 


2. Is the supply of unskilled labor in your community affected by 

European immigration? If so, attempt to trace the relation of 
this immigration to low wages in your community. 

3. What classes of workmen receive the highest wages in your lo¬ 

cality? What is the relation of these high wages to the re¬ 
stricted number of this type of workman? 

4. Study the methods by means of which land in your locality is 

utilized. In what ways, if in any, could various plots be made 
to employ more laborers? 

5. By what means could the supply of capital in your locality be 

increased? In what ways might this increased supply of capital 
be utilized? To what extent would the utilization of this in¬ 
creased supply of capital justify the employment of additional 
laborers? 

6. Do you believe that your community needs more entrepreneurs? 

What reason have you for believing-that a training school for 
the technical professions would increase the productivity of 
your community? 

7. Write to the Bureau of Education in your state for data relative 

to the status of vocational education in your commonwealth. 

8 . Interview one or more officials of a bank in your community for 

the purpose of learning of the ways in which banks encourage 
thrift. 

9. Write to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in your state for infor¬ 

mation relative to the status of public employment bureaus in 
your commonwealth. 

11 

10. Causes of inequality. (Taussig, Principles of Economics , vol. ii, 

chapter liv.) 

11. The Malthusian doctrine. (Malthus’ Essay on Population. If 

this essay is not available, consult an encyclopedia under 
“Malthus.”) 

12. The principle of self-interest. (Carver, Essays in Social Justice , 

chapter iii.) 

13. How much is a man worth? (Carver, Essays in Social Justice , 

chapter vii.) 

14. Causes of the scarcity of labor. (Carver, Elementary Economics, 

pages 269-271.) 

15. The importance of consumption. (Carver, Elementary Economics , 

chapters xxxviii and xxxix.) 

16. Importance of thrift. ( Annals , vol. lxxxvii, pages 4-8.) 

17. Luxury. (Carver, Elementary Economics , chapter xl.) 

18. Choosing a vocation. (Parsons, Choosing a Vocation.) 


PART III —AMERICAN SOCIAL PROBLEMS 


CHAPTER XVIII 
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 

181 . Labor and capital. — Strictly speaking, five distinct 
factors are involved in production: land, labor, capital, coor¬ 
dination, and government. As a matter of fact, we are accus¬ 
tomed to speak of the immediate conduct of industry as in¬ 
volving only two factors: labor and capital. Used in this sense, 
the term labor refers to the masses of hired workmen, while 
the term capital is held to include not only the individual who 
has money to invest, i.e. the capitalist proper, but also the 
entrepreneur, or managing employer. 

Labor and capital cooperate actively in production, while 
the other factors remain somewhat in the background. As 
we have seen, both labor and capital are essential to indus¬ 
try, and fundamentally their interests are reciprocal. But in 
spite of this basic harmony, there are many points of difference 
and antagonism between labor and capital. This chapter 
discusses the more important of these disagreements, and out¬ 
lines some suggested methods of reducing or eliminating them. 

182 . The factory system and the laborer. — Wherever it 
has penetrated, the Industrial Revolution has concentrated 
large numbers of landless laborers in industrial establishments 
controlled by relatively few employers. Very early in the de¬ 
velopment of the factory system, the laborer saw that he was 
at a relative disadvantage in bargaining with employers. Not 
only does the average laborer lack funds to tide him over a 
long period of unemployment, but the fact that his labor is 
generally his sole reliance obliges him to secure work at all 
hazards. The anxiety and discontent of laborers have been 
increased by the realization that the factory system affords 

154 


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 


155 


little opportunity for the average workman to rise to the posi¬ 
tion of an employer. Most laborers are unable to secure either 
the training or the capital necessary to set themselves up as 
independent business men. 

183 . Rise of labor organizations. — The risks and limita¬ 
tions which the factory system imposes upon the laboring classes 
have encouraged workmen to organize for the purpose of pro¬ 
moting their mutual interests. The individual gains, it has 
been found, when his interests are supported by a group of 
workmen acting as a unit, and bringing their united pressure 
to bear upon the employer. The labor organization has been 
the result o i this discovery. A labor organization may be defined 
as a more or less permanent and continuous association of 
wage earners, entered into for the purpose of improving the 
conditions of their employment. 

The first labor organizations in the United States were 
formed early in the nineteenth century, but it was not until 
about 1850 that the trade union assumed national importance. 
After 1850, however, and particularly after the Civil War, the 
trade union grew rapidly. In 1881 a number of national trade 
unions combined to form the American Federation of Labor. 
This body, while exercising no real authority over the trade 
unions comprising it, is nevertheless an important agency in 
coordinating trade union policies throughout the country. 
It is important, also, as a means of formulating and expressing 
the aims and ideals of the working classes. The Federation 
had a membership of 2,604,701 in 1914, and in 1920 included 
more than 4,500,000 members. With the exception of the 
railroad brotherhoods, nearly all of the important trade unions 
in the country are affiliated with the American Federation of 
Labor. 

184 . Rise of employers’ associations. — The growing power 
of the trade union after 1850 stimulated the growth of employers’ 
associations. In 1886 the first national employers’ association 
was organized under the name of the Stove Founders’ National 
Defence Association. Later there was formed a number of 
other important associations, including the National Asso- 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


156 

ciation of Manufacturers, the National Council for Industrial 
Defence, and the American Anti-Boycott Association. 

The primary purpose of the employers’ association is the 
protection of the employers’ interests against trade union 
aggression. Some of the associations are frankly hostile to the 
trade union movement, while others take the stand that the 
organization of laborers is undesirable only if the power of the 
trade union is abused. The promotion of friendly relations 
between labor and capital is increasingly an important con¬ 
cern of the employers’ association. 

185. What the trade union wants. — One of the basic aims 
of the trade union is either to raise wages or to prevent their 
reduction. Because of the constant shiftings of supply and 
demand, the prices of commodities are rarely stationary for 
very long. Over any extended period of time prices are 
either rising or falling. During a period of rising prices the 
workmen are at a relative disadvantage, 1 because they have 
to pay for commodities higher prices than they had antici¬ 
pated when they contracted to work for a definite wage. In 
such a case, the union attempts to secure higher wages for 
its members. When, on the other hand, prices are falling, 
the workmen gain, because they do not have to pay as high 
prices as they had anticipated. In this latter case, the 
laborers attempt to maintain their advantage by opposing 
any reduction in wages. 

The desire of the trade unions to improve the general con¬ 
dition of the working classes has steadily widened the program 
of organized labor. Shorter hours and better conditions of 
work are important trade union demands. Unions quite gen¬ 
erally approve the principle of a minimum wage, 2 at least for 
women and child workers. Formerly, and to some extent even 
now, the unions have opposed the introduction of labor-saving 
machinery on the grounds that it displaces workmen and 

1 Rising prices affect all who purchase commodities, of course, but 
here we are intent upon the position of the laborer only. 

2 The principle of the minimum wage is discussed in the next chapter, 
Sections 205-207. 


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 


157 


hence causes unemployment. Union members generally prefer 
to be paid by the hour or by the day, rather than so much per 
unit of product. The reason given for the preference is that 
strain and undue fatigue often result from piece-work , as the 
system of pay on the basis of units of product is called. Trade 
unions universally demand that employers recognize the prin¬ 
ciple of collective bargaining, by which is meant the privilege 
of workmen dealing with the employer collectively or through 
the union. Very often, also, the unions demand the closed 
shop, that is to say, a shop from which all non-union employees 
are excluded. 

186. What the employer wants. — Price movements like¬ 
wise affect The employer. But whereas the laborer is at a rela¬ 
tive disadvantage when prices are rising, the employer tends 
to gain, for the reason that he secures for his product higher 
prices than he had expected. 1 Suppose, for example that a 
shoe manufacturer can make a profit if a pair of shoes sells for 
$4.00. If later the price rises to $5.00 and his expenses remain 
stationary or very nearly so, he reaps an unusually large profit. 
And whereas in a period of falling prices the laborer tends to 
gain, the employer often loses heavily, for the reason that he 
must sell at a relatively low price goods produced at a relatively 
high cost. If, in the case given above, the price of the pair 
of shoes falls from $4.00 to $3.00, while the expenses of the man¬ 
ufacturer remain stationary, or very nearly so, he may make 
little or no profit. Thus while prices are rising the employer 
attempts to maintain his advantage by resisting an increase 
in wages, while in a period of falling prices he seeks to cut down 
his expenses by reducing wages. In either case the imme¬ 
diate interests of workmen and employer are antagonistic. 

Just as the growing complexity of the industrial situation 
has enlarged the trade union program, so the aims of employers 
have steadily increased in number and in importance. On 
the grounds that it restricts the fullest utilization of his plant, 
the employer very often objects to a shortening of the work- 

1 In a period of rising prices, the employer’s costs also tend to rise, 
but generally not so rapidly as do prices. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


158 

ing day, even where there is a corresponding decrease in the 
day-wage. Some employers are unwilling to provide sanitary 
workshops for their employees, or otherwise to improve the 
conditions of employment. The employer generally objects 
to the minimum wage, as constituting an interference with 
his “ right” to offer workmen what wages he chooses. Collec¬ 
tive bargaining is accepted by many employers, but many 
others insist upon the right to hire and discharge men as they 
see fit, without being forced to consider the wishes of the union. 
Employers often oppose the closed shop, and insist upon the 
open shop, an open shop being defined as one in which work¬ 
men are employed without regard to whether or not they are 
members of a union. 

187 . Methods of industrial warfare. — Both capital and 
labor back up their demands by a powerful organization using 
a variety of weapons. The trade union generally attempts 
to enforce its demands by threat of, or use of, the strike. A 
strike is a concerted stoppage of work initiated by the workmen 
as a group. Sometimes accompanying the strike is the boycott, 
which may be defined as a concerted avoidance of business 
relations with one or more employers, or with those who sympa¬ 
thize with those employers. The strike is generally accompanied 
by the practice of picketing, by which is meant the posting 
of union agents whose duty it is to attempt to persuade non¬ 
union workmen not to fill the places of the striking workmen. 
Pickets may also attempt to persuade customers not to pat¬ 
ronize the employer against whom a strike has been launched. 
Sometimes picketing leads to intimidation and violence on the 
part of either strikers or representatives of the employers. 

In turn, the employer may employ a variety of weapons 
against workmen with whom he cannot agree. An employer 
may make use of the lockout, that is, he may refuse to allow 
his labor force to continue at work. Many employers also use the 
blacklist, i.e . the circulation of information among employers for 
the purpose of forewarning one another against the employment 
of certain designated workmen. The employer may also attempt 
to end a strike by persuading non-union men to fill the places 


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 


159 


vacated by the strikers. Such men as accept are known as 
strike-breakers. On the plea that the strike may result in the 
destruction of his property, the employer may resort to the 
injunction. This is an order secured from a court, and re¬ 
straining certain laborers in the employer’s interest. 

188. The cost of industrial warfare. — The struggles of labor 
against capital constitute a species of warfare which involves 
the general public. Regardless of whether a particular dispute 
ends in favor of the laborers or the employer, every strike, 
lockout, or other interference with industrial cooperation 
lessens the amount of consumable goods in existence. Thus 
aside from the fact that industrial warfare encourages class 
antagonisms, it is an important cause of the relative scarcity 
of goods, and the resulting tendency of prices to rise. Often 
great injury results from a dispute which originally was of small 
proportions. In 1902, for example, the anthracite coal strike 
cost the country more than $100,000,000, though the strike 
had been initiated because of a local dispute Over recognition 
of the union. In 1919, when we were suffering from a general 
scarcity of goods, there occurred in this country more than 
three thousand strikes, involving a loss of more than $2,000,- 
000,000 in decreased production. 

189. Necessity of industrial peace. — Industrial warfare 
very often results in the correction of abuses, but in many cases 
it seems to bring little or no benefit to either labor or capital. 
In any case, it is a costly method, and one which constitutes 
a menace to the peace of the community. American democracy 
demands that in the settlement of disputes between labor and 
capital, industrial warfare be replaced by some method less 
costly, less violent, and more in harmony with the principles 
of justice and civilized behavior. Responsibility for the present 
extent of industrial warfare cannot definitely be placed upon 
either capital or labor, but at least both sides should be obliged 
to recognize that the public is a third party to every industrial 
dispute. We should insist upon fair play for both capital and 
labor, but we should likewise insist that the interests of the 
public be safeguarded. 


160 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

190. Some methods of industrial peace. — As has already 
been pointed out, profit sharing is not of great importance in 
lessening industrial unrest. Various systems of bonuses and 
pensions have temporarily improved the position of some groups 
of workmen, but experience has proven both bonuses and pen¬ 
sions to be limited in scope. Employers are often unwilling to 
adopt such devices as these, while the laborers frequently regard 
them as paternalistic measures which at best are a poor substi¬ 
tute for the higher wages to which they consider themselves 
entitled. Existing evils are often lessened by welfare work, 
which includes such measures as the establishment of schools, 
libraries, and playgrounds for the laborers. But in many cases 
welfare work is initiated by the employer for the purpose of 
diverting the attention of the workmen from their fundamental 
grievances, and for this reason it is often opposed by the work¬ 
men. All of the measures enumerated in this section are of 
more or less value, but as methods of combating industrial 
warfare, they have proved to be palliative, rather than remedial 
or preventive. 

191. The trade agreement. — In some industries there is 
a growing tendency for employers not only to recognize the 
union, but also to make a collective contract, or trade agree¬ 
ment, with the unionized workmen. The trade agreement may 
lead to the formation of councils in which representatives of 
both workmen and employer attempt to reach a friendly agree¬ 
ment upon disputed matters. The trade agreement has been 
particularly successful in many industries in England. In 
this country it is best known in the soft coal mining 
industry in eastern United States, and in the needle trades 
of New York City. On the whole, the trade agreement 
has not been markedly successful in 'the United States. Al¬ 
though it smoothes out minor differences, the unions still 
prefer to back their more important demands by use of the 
strike. 

192. Voluntary arbitration. — Since 1898 the several states 
have been giving an increasing amount of attention to the 
creation of boards of industrial conciliation, mediation, and 


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 


161 


arbitration. 1 Most states now have some provision for a 
board whose duty it is to attempt to eliminate industrial 
warfare. The powers and duties of these boards vary from 
state to state. In some states the board may investigate 
labor disputes on its own initiative, but it is not obliged to 
make an investigation. In other states the investigation of 
industrial disputes is compulsory. 

Boards of the type discussed in this section have no power 
to compel the disputants to arbitrate their troubles, though 
they may persuade the parties involved to resort to arbitration. 
When the disputants agree to allow the state board to arbi¬ 
trate the dispute, and when also# they previously promise to 
abide by the decision of the board, the award of the state 
board is binding upon both sides. When the parties to the dis¬ 
pute have not previously agreed to abide by the award, the board 
cannot force an acceptance of its decision, but can only rely 
upon public sentiment to help effect a just settlement. 

193. Compulsory arbitration in New Zealand and Aus¬ 
tralia. — The frequent refusal of labor and capital willingly 
to submit their differences to arbitration has led to the devel¬ 
opment of the principle of compulsory arbitration. 

In New Zealand, compulsory arbitration was adopted as 
early as 1894. In that country the arbitrating body is known 
as the court of arbitration, the decisions of which are absolute 
and binding. At the discretion of the court, the awards handed 
down may be extended to embrace other employees or employers 
in the same trade, or in the same locality, or in the whole country. 
Violations of the award, either by labor or by capital, are 
punishable by heavy fines. An even more drastic form of 
compulsory arbitration has been adopted in Australia. 

Due to the influence of many complicating factors, the status 

1 The words conciliation, mediation, and arbitration are variously 
used, but the following distinction may be of use. Mediation is an 
attempt to get the disputants to come together for the purpose of 
discussing their grievances. Conciliation is aid extended to the dis¬ 
putants in the actual settlement of the dispute. Arbitration implies 
that a third party settles the dispute and renders a decision. 


162 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


of compulsory arbitration in these two countries is uncertain. 
Many students of the question maintain that this form of 
arbitration has materially reduced industrial warfare; on the 
other hand, other authorities declare that compulsory arbi¬ 
tration in New Zealand and Australia has not markedly improved 
industrial relations. 

194. Compulsory arbitration in the United States. — Al¬ 
though the principle of compulsory arbitration has been familiar 
to American students of labor problems for more than a quarter 
of a century, there is as yet very little sentiment in favor of 
its application to industrial disputes in this country. The 
explanation of this is not far to seek. Individualism is so strong 
in the United States that compulsory arbitration is regarded 
by many Americans as an unwarranted interference in private 
business. It is still generally true that both labor and capital 
prefer to settle their disputes in open struggle. Equally im¬ 
portant, perhaps, is the feeling that compulsory arbitration 
laws would nullify the constitutional guarantee that no citizen 
shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process 
of law. 1 

However, a definite step toward compulsory arbitration was 
taken when in 1920 the State of Kansas established a Court 
of Industrial Relations “for the purpose of preserving the 
public peace, protecting the public health, preventing indus¬ 
trial strife, disorder, and waste, and securing regular and orderly 
conduct of the businesses directly affecting the living condi¬ 
tions of the people.” The law of 1920 declared illegal the sus¬ 
pension of work in those industries which are designated as 
essential and necessary to the community life. Industrial 
disputes arising in such industries are subject to compulsory 
arbitration by the court. The merits of this court are still 
being debated. Some authorities declare that the court has 
already demonstrated its value, but other observers claim that 
so far this tribunal has not operated to reduce labor troubles 
in Kansas. 

195. Status of the demands of labor. — For a number of 
years the attitude of labor has been clearly aggressive, while 

1 For an explanation of this point, see Chapter XIX, Section 214. 


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 163 

the attitude of capital has tended to be one of resistance. In 
view of this fact, the simplest way of considering the merits 
of the industrial situation is to examine the demands of labor. 
The justice of these demands cannot be gone into here, but 
a few words of general application may be helpful. 

The proper determination of wages depends, of course, upon 
the particular circumstances. No general rule can be laid 
down, except the very obvious one that wages cannot perma¬ 
nently go so high as to wipe out profits in an industry, nor 
yet so low as to render it impossible for the workmen to 
secure a decent living. 

The steady improvement of living and working conditions 
is desirable, and is a challenge to any progressive society. 

Shorter work hours are desirable, wherever the cutting down 
of the working day does not too greatly hamper production. 
Many economists feel that an eight-hour day will prove a 
social gain only if introduced gradually. They believe that it 
should be introduced in proportion as the industrial produc¬ 
tivity of the country increases to compensate for the shorten¬ 
ing of the working day. 

Opposition to the introduction of labor-saving machinery 
is both useless and short-sighted. The officials of most unions 
now advise workmen not to oppose the adoption of machinery, 
but rather to fit themselves to operate the machines. 

The question of a closed shop or an open shop is largely a 
matter of opinion. The problem will probably continue to be 
disputed for a long time to come. Many students of labor 
conditions feel that the closed shop is justifiable only when 
accompanied by the open union. By an open union is meant 
a union into which all laborers competent to do the work are 
admitted freely. Where the open union principle is adopted, 
Professor Taussig points out, the closed shop is no longer a 
monopolistic device to shut out competition and raise wages 
for a small group. It becomes, instead, a means of promoting 
mutual aid and collective bargaining. 

Many employers still refuse to recognize the principle of 
collective bargaining, but from the social point of view collective 


164 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

bargaining is desirable. In many cases it so strengthens the 
position of the laborers that they are able to compete with 
the employer more nearly on terms of equality. Under such 
conditions competition in the labor market is in a healthy 
state. The difficulty is, of course, that some unions may take 
advantage of their strengthened position to enforce unduly 
severe conditions upon the employer. 

196. The outlook. — Although it is probable that indus¬ 
trial disagreements will long endure, we have a right to expect 
that continued progress will be made in settling these disputes 
peaceably. By many it is believed that compulsory arbitra¬ 
tion is the most effective method of securing industrial peace, 
but for reasons already given, the extension of this form of 
arbitration will probably be slow in this country. English 
experience would indicate that we have not yet exhausted 
the possibilities of the trade agreement, but though this device 
is becoming better known in the United States, both the Ameri¬ 
can laborer and the American employer are still disposed to 
settle their differences by means of the strike, the lockout, 
and similar weapons. 

The present century is an age of industrial stress and change, 
and it is possible that the ultimate solution of the disputes 
between labor and capital has not yet been advanced. From 
the data now at hand, however, it is maintained by many that 
labor disputes must ultimately be eradicated through the 
development of industrial democracy. Industrial democracy 
implies the joint direction of industrial policies by employer 
and employees, working together harmoniously and in the spirit 
of equality. When industrial democracy is attained, according 
to this view, mutual trust and the spirit of friendly cooperation 
will enable labor and capital to adjust their differences peaceably 
and economically, without dictation from any outside source. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Why are we accustomed to speak of labor and capital as the two 

chief factors in production? 

2. Why have labor organizations arisen? 


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 


165 

3. Name some employers’ associations. 

4. Contrast the aims of the union with the aims of the employers’ 

association. 

5. Discuss the methods of industrial warfare. 

6. Why is industrial warfare undesirable? 

7. What is the attitude of American democracy toward industrial 

warfare? 

8. Name some minor methods of industrial peace. 

9. Discuss the character of the trade agreement. 

10. Distinguish between conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. 

11. Discuss compulsory arbitration in New Zealand and Australia. 

12. What is the significance of the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations? 

13. What is the outlook for industrial peace in this country? 

14. Define industrial democracy. 

' ti 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xviii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bullock, Elements of Economics, chapter xiii. 

3. Carlton, History and Problems of Organized Labor, chapter v. 

4. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xxii. 

5. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter xx. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What are the three types of labor organizations? (Fetter, page 299.) 

2. Who were the Knights of Labor? (Bullock, page 316.) 

3. What is the economic justification of the trade union? (Ely, 

pages 445-446.) 

4. Outline the history of the American Federation of Labor. (Carlton, 

pages 74-82.) 

5. What are some of the secondary functions of the trade union? 

(Fetter, pages 298-299.) 

6. Among what groups of workers is the trade union strong? Among 

what groups is it weak? (Fetter, page 300.) 

7. What effect has unionism had upon wages? (Fetter, pages 306-307.) 

8. What is meant by limitation of output? (Ely, pages 449-450.) 

9. What is a standard wage? (Bullock, pages 320-321.) 

10. What is the legal status of the strike? (Bullock, pages 328-329.) 

11. What is scientific management? (Bullock, pages 339 “ 34 o.) 

12 . What will probably be the future development of the trade union? 

(Ely, pages 468-469.) 


i66 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Topics for Investigation and Report 

i 

1. Origin and growth of the trade union movement in your section. 

2. Select some one trade union for study. Obtain information on 

the following points, either by means of literature issued by 
the union, or by personal interview with union officials: 

(a) Aims of the union. 

( b ) Insurance benefits. 

(c) Political activities of the union. 

(d) Strike procedure. 

(e) Attitude toward arbitration. 

3. Select for study an employers’ association in your locality. Obtain 

information on the following points. (If no association is avail¬ 
able, consult a friendly employer): 

(a) Attitude of the employer toward the trade union movement. 

(b) Attitude toward the closed shop. 

(c) What the employer does when a strike is launched against 

him. 

(d) Use of the injunction. 

( e ) Attitude of the employer toward arbitration. 

4. If possible, investigate an actual strike and report upon it. 

5. The laws of your state with regard to mediation, conciliation, 

and arbitration. Do you think further legislation on this sub¬ 
ject is advisable? 

11 

6. History of the trade union movement in the United States. (Con¬ 

sult any available text on labor problems. See also Carlton, 
Organized Labor in American History.) 

7. The Knights of Labor. (Any standard text on labor problems, 

or an encyclopedia.) 

8. Trade union policies. (Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, 

pages 589-613.) 

9. Program of the American Federation of Labor. (Any standard 

text on labor problems, or an encyclopedia.) 

10. The theory of price changes. (Taussig, Principles of Economics, 

vol. 1, chapter xxii.) 

11. The problem of adjusting wages to prices. (Bloomfield, Selected 

Articles on Problems of Labor, pages 56-75.) 

12. Reducing the labor turnover. ( Annals , vol. lxxi, pages 1-81.) 

13. Scientific management. (Any standard text on labor problems. 

See also Hoxie, Scientific Management and Labor.) 


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 


167 


14. Incorporation of the trade union. (Bloomfield, Selected Articles 

on Problems of Labor , pages 262-267. Commons, Trade Union¬ 
ism and Labor Problems , chapter vi.) 

15. Employers’ associations. (Any standard text on labor problems.) 

16. Principles of industrial relations, as formulated by the Chamber of 

Commerce of the United States of America. (Write to the Chamber’s 
headquarters, Washington, D. C., for copies. Also reprinted in Edie, 
Current Social and Industrial Forces, pages 346-381.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

17. Closed shop versus open shop. 

18. Should trade unions be obliged to incorporate? 

19. To what extent does compulsory arbitration constitute an un¬ 

warranted interference in private business? 

20. The shortening of the working day. 

21. Effect of the World War upon relations between labor and capital. 


CHAPTER XIX 


HEALTH IN INDUSTRY 

197. Industry and health. — Wherever the Industrial Revo¬ 
lution has progressed beyond the initial stages, there has been 
an enormous increase in wealth and prosperity. At the same 
time, serious evils have accompanied the transition from a 
relatively simple agricultural stage to a stage dominated by 
the factory system. The tendency toward overcrowding in 
rapidly growing cities, the difficulties of maintaining a normal 
family life where mother or children are employed in factories, 
and the danger of overstrain, accident and disease in indus¬ 
trial pursuits, all these factors render very important the 
problem of health in industry. 

Though health in industry is only one phase of the general 
problem of health, it will be impossible here to exhaust even 
that one phase. We shall accordingly confine ourselves to the 
discussion of three questions: first, child labor; second, the 
employment of women in industrial pursuits; and third, the 
insurance of our industrial population against accident, sickness, 
old age and unemployment. 

198. Child labor: extent and causes.—There are in this 
country more than two million children between the ages of 
ten and fifteen, engaged in gainful occupations. In all sections 
of the country large numbers of children are found in agri¬ 
culture, this industry generally being beyond the scope of 
child labor laws. The employment of children in factories, 
mines, quarries, mills, and shops, on the other hand, is now 
considerably restricted by law. This is true of all parts of the 
country. However, child labor is still of wide extent in the 
United States, due to the large number of children found in 
agriculture, domestic service, street trades, stores, messenger 
service, and tenement homework. 

168 


HEALTH IN INDUSTRY 


169 

Of the immediate causes of child labor one of the most im¬ 
portant is the poverty of the parents. Where the parents are 
themselves day laborers, it is often considered necessary or de¬ 
sirable to increase the family earnings by putting the children 
to work. 

From the standpoint of the employer child labor is rendered 
possible and even desirable by the development of types of 
work easily performed by small children. In many cases the 
tendency of parents to put young children to work is en¬ 
couraged by the lax administration of school attendance laws. 
This tendency has also been encouraged by the indifference of 
the public to the evil effects of child labor. 

199. Effects of child labor. — Students of the problem of 
child labor unanimously condemn the practice of habitually em¬ 
ploying young children outside the home. Where poorly paid 
children compete with men and women, they serve either to 
displace adults, or, by competition, to lower the wages of adults. 

The effects upon the children themselves are injurious. 
Stunted, crippled, and diseased bodies are the result of 
steady work at too tender an age. Schooling is interrupted, 
so that child workers generally develop into illiterate and in¬ 
efficient adults. When children are forced into gainful occu¬ 
pations at an early age, the family life is disrupted, and proper 
home training is difficult, if not impossible. Still another factor 
is the greater temptation to vice and crime confronting the 
child outside the home. 

200. Child labor laws. — Since 1870 the growing acuteness 
of the child labor problem, together with an aroused public 
opinion, has served to increase the number of laws restrict¬ 
ing child labor. At the present time, forty-five states forbid 
the employment in certain industries of children under four¬ 
teen years of age. 

A Federal child labor law was passed in 1916, but two years 
later the measure was declared unconstitutional by the Su¬ 
preme Court. 1 In 1919 a new Federal law was enacted. In 
order to avoid the charge of unconstitutionality, this measure 

1 For an explanation of this point, see Section 214 of this chapter. 


170 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

attacks child labor indirectly. The law levies an excise tax 
of ten per cent on the entire net profits received from the 
sale of all the products of any mine, quarry, mill, cannery, 
workshop, factory, or manufacturing establishment, which em¬ 
ploys children contrary to certain age and hour specifications. 
The effect of this ten per cent tax is so to reduce the profits 
of the employers affected, as virtually to prohibit child labor. 
By this means the act prohibits child labor in several impor¬ 
tant groups of industrial establishments. 

The difficulty with the law is that it touches only about 
fifteen per cent of our two million child workers. It does 
not affect, for example, the large number of children employed 
in agriculture, domestic service, street trades, stores and 
restaurants, messenger service, and tenement homework. 

201. Minimum provisions of a good child labor law. — The 
passage of more comprehensive child labor laws is being ad¬ 
vocated by a number of social agencies, notably by the 
National Child Labor Committee. The minimum provisions 
of a good child labor law have been set forth by the committee 
somewhat as follows: 

As a general proposition, no child should be regularly em¬ 
ployed in a gainful occupation who is under sixteen years of 
age. There should be an even higher age limit for child 
workers in quarries, mines, and other dangerous places. 
Children should not work more than eight hours a day. Nor 
should they be allowed to engage in night work until they have 
reached the age of, say, twenty years. All child applicants 
for industrial positions should first be required to pass edu¬ 
cational tests and a physical examination. A good child labor 
law should provide for a corps of factory inspectors, as well 
as for other means of securing the efficient administration of 
the law. Lastly, it is important that there be close cooperation 
between employers and the school authorities in the matter 
of child labor. 

202 . Increased number of women in industry. — There 
have always been women in industry, but of recent years 
the proportion of women so engaged has increased so rapidly 


HEALTH IN INDUSTRY 


as to create a serious social problem. From needlework, 
domestic service, and teaching, women have spread rapidly 
into trade, commerce, and the professions. A few years ago 
transportation and police work were monopolized by men, 
but to-day women are entering these fields rapidly. Though 
they outnumber men only in domestic and personal service, 
women are numerous in practically every important calling 
except plumbing and street cleaning. Altogether more than 
8,000,000 women are engaged in gainful occupations in the 
United States. 

203. Why women receive lower wages than men. — Women 
generally receive lower wages than men. One reason for this 
is the physical weakness of women, which renders them less 
desirable in many types of work. Social conventions, home 
attachments, and, often, the lack of the venturesome spirit, 
combine to keep women from moving about in search of im¬ 
proved working conditions to the same extent as men. The 
expectation of marriage causes many young women to neglect 
to increase their efficiency, and this at least prevents their wages 
from increasing as rapidly as those of young men who undergo 
consistent training. The trade union is still little developed 
among women workers, a factor which often prevents higher 
wages from being secured. Low wages are often traceable to 
the fact that there is an oversupply of girls and women in the 
labor market. Large numbers of girls and women are partially 
supported at home, and are able and willing to work for “ pin- 
money” only. Many employers take advantage of this fact 
to offer very low wages. 

204. Legislation regulating the labor of women. — Although 
it would seem desirable to keep young children out of industry 
altogether, there is a general agreement among students of the 
problem that the labor of women ought to be further regulated 
rather than actually prohibited. A number of states have 
already enacted laws designed to safeguard women in industry. 
In some states the number of working hours for women has 
been cut from eleven to nine, while in other states the maxi¬ 
mum number of hours during which women may work is eight. 


172 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Some states prohibit night work for women in industrial 
establishments. The great majority of the states now pro¬ 
vide for proper rest periods, guarded machinery, the venti¬ 
lation of workrooms, and, where practicable, seats for women 
employees. To the extent that women actually do the same 
amount and quality of work as men, there is a growing feeling 
that men and women ought to receive equal pay. 

205. The minimum wage. —: A minimum wage law is one 
which specifies that in certain occupations laborers may not 
be paid less than a stipulated wage. The aim of the minimum 
wage is to protect the laborer against employment which, 
under freely competitive conditions, does not pay wages high 
enough to guarantee a decent living. 1 

The first minimum wage law in the United States was passed 
by Massachusetts in 1912. The movement grew rapidly, and 
by 1921 more than a dozen additional states had adopted mini¬ 
mum wage laws. In some states the law applies only to 
specified industries; in others it covers all occupations. In, 
some states the law covers only the employment of women, but 
in most cases the principle of the minimum wage applies to 
women and minors under eighteen, or even twenty-one years of 
age. In some foreign countries the minimum wage is also 
extended to the labor of men, but in the United States men 
are everywhere exempted from the operation of such laws. 

206. Arguments in favor of the minimum wage. — The 
champions of the principle of the minimum wage advance a 
number of arguments in its favor. It is contended that no 
industry is socially desirable if it cannot pay a living wage, 
for when wages fall below a certain minimum, poverty, ill- 
health, and vice are natural results. When laborers are them¬ 
selves unable to improve their economic position, it is said, 
it becomes the duty of the state to guarantee them a living wage. 
Another argument in favor of the minimum wage is that it 
not only eliminates considerable poverty, but it makes possible 
a healthier and more contented labor force. It is claimed that 
strikes and social unrest are partially eliminated by the mini¬ 
mum wage. 


HEALTH IN INDUSTRY 


173 


207. Arguments against the minimum wage. — In spite of 
the rapid spread of minimum wage legislation in this country, 
the principle has met with considerable opposition. It is 
claimed by some that where poverty is due to bad personal 
habits, the mere payment of a higher wage will not abolish 
poverty. It is also urged that because of price changes, and 
because of differing concepts of a standard of living, it is 
difficult to determine what is really a living wage. Some em¬ 
ployers maintain that the minimum wage is contrary to econ¬ 
omic law, since it forces the payment of a wage which the 
laborer often does not earn. The compulsory nature of the 
minimum wage is also opposed on the grounds that it con¬ 
stitutes an undue interference with individual rights. 1 

208. The risks of industry. — In spite of the fact that most 
States now have detailed laws providing for the guarding of 
machinery and the supervision of dangerous occupations, a 
half million persons are injured or killed annually in industrial 
employments in the United States. A considerable amount 
of ill-health is traceable to working with drugs and acids. 
Continued work in dusty mills and shops, as well as long ex¬ 
posure to the excessively dry or excessively moist atmosphere 
required by certain manufacturing processes, also give rise to 
“occupational” diseases. Old age frequently brings poverty 
and distress, in spite of a life of hard work. Lastly, the laborer 
runs the risk of unemployment. 

209. The principle of social insurance. — As a general rule, 
laborers do not voluntarily insure themselves against illness, 
unemployment, accident, or old age. This is partly because 
they lack the necessary funds, and partly because they lack the 
foresight necessary for such action. If, therefore, the risks of 
industry are adequately to be insured against, the initiative 

1 Formerly an important argument against the minimum wage was 
this: There are large numbers of people who cannot earn the minimum 
wage, and because employers will tend not to employ them, such per¬ 
sons will have to be supported by charity. The force of this argument 
is reduced, however, by the fact that most minimum wage laws now 
make special provision for the part-time employment of such persons. 


174 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


must be taken by some one other than the laborer. As a 
result of this situation, there has developed the principle of 
social insurance. Social insurance, as distinguished from in¬ 
surance by trade unions or private agencies, is compulsory, 
and is administered, or at least supervised, by the state or 
Federal authorities. 

From the standpoint of the community, social insurance 
may be justified on four grounds. First, the risks of industry 
are largely beyond the control of the individual workman, 
and hence he ought not to be held wholly responsible for the 
penalties which industry may inflict upon him. Second, the 
community gets the benefit of the laborer’s efforts, and thus 
ought to feel morally obligated to safeguard his employment. 
Third, an injury to the laborer restricts the productivity of the 
community by crippling or removing one of its productive 
agents. Fourth, compulsory insurance is a social necessity, 
for where nothing has been laid aside for a rainy day, the in¬ 
terruption of earnings subjects the laborer and his family 
to hardship and disaster. Wisely administered social insur¬ 
ance prevents a great deal of poverty and distress which would 
otherwise constitute an added burden upon charitable organi¬ 
zations. 

210 . Insurance against accident. — Accident insurance has 
been a feature of social insurance programs in Germany, France, 
and Great Britain for almost a half century, but in this country 
it was not until 1910 that compulsory insurance against indus¬ 
trial accidents began to be effective. Since 1910, however, the 
movement has grown rapidly, and at the present time the 
majority of the states provide for compensation to workmen 
for accidents sustained in connection with their work. For¬ 
merly our courts quite generally held that when a workman 
could be shown to have suffered an accident because of “per¬ 
sonal negligence, ” the injured person was not entitled to com¬ 
pensation. Under the accident insurance laws of most states 
it is now held, however, that the personal negligence of the 
injured workman does not forfeit his right to receive compen¬ 
sation. 


HEALTH IN INDUSTRY 


175 

In most states the cost of accident insurance is borne pri¬ 
marily by the employer. 

211 . Insurance against sickness. 1 — Compulsory sickness 
insurance has been highly developed in several European coun¬ 
tries, but so far we have left insurance of this type to private 
effort. The question is attracting considerable attention in 
this country, however, and it is believed that this form of social 
insurance will soon be provided for by state law. In 1914 the 
American Association for Labor Legislation outlined a model 
sickness insurance law. Such a law would provide a sickness 
benefit for a number of weeks, arrange for medical care, and, 
in case of death, pay a funeral benefit. The cost of such insur¬ 
ance would be divided equally between workmen and employer, 
while the state would bear the cost of administering the law. 
This cost would be considerable, because illness may be feigned, 
and hence there would have to be more careful supervision than 
in the case of accident insurance. 

212 . Insurance against old age. — Compulsory insurance 
against old age is an important feature of social insurance 
systems in European countries, but it is very little known in 
the United States. We are familiar with the Federal pension¬ 
ing of military veterans, and with local pensions for firemen and 
policemen, as well as with state and local pensions for teachers. 
Such insurance does not, however, touch the question of aged 
employees in industrial pursuits. Trade unions sometimes pro¬ 
vide a measure of old age insurance for their members, but 
the proportion of workmen affected by this practice is very 
small. 

In 1920, a beginning toward compulsory old age insurance 
was made, when a Federal law provided for compulsory old 
age insurance for the civil service employees of the Federal 
government. The question of compulsory old age insurance 
is also being agitated in a number of states. 

213. Should social insurance extend to unemployment? — It 
is contended by many that to insure workmen against the loss 
of their jobs would encourage shiftlessness, and that for this 

1 Sometimes known as health insurance. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


176 

reason the principle of social insurance ought not to apply to 
unemployment. 

It is obvious that a considerable share of unemployment is 
traceable to personal negligence, and it is probably true that 
insurance against unemployment would discourage thrift and 
foresight on the part of many workmen. On the other hand, 
it has been shown statistically that a large share of unemploy¬ 
ment is due to crop failures, market fluctuations, and other 
conditions beyond the control of the workmen. In so far as 
this is true, there would be a great deal of unemployment 
whether it were insured against or not. Because, therefore, 
some unemployment is inevitable, and because unemployment 
is in many cases beyond the control of the individual, it becomes 
necessary, or at least desirable, for the state to insure workmen 
against this unavoidable risk. 

Insurance against unemployment has never been tried out 
in this country, but it is likely that we shall some day follow the 
example of the leading European countries, and include this 
type of protection in our general program of social insurance. 

214. Obstacles to labor legislation. — Labor legislation of the 
type discussed in this chapter is making rapid headway in the 
United States. Nevertheless, it should be noted that in this 
field we are behind the more advanced countries of western 
Europe. The chief explanation of this relative backwardness 
is that the extension of labor legislation in this country has 
met with considerable opposition. The reasons for this oppo¬ 
sition may be summed up as follows: 

First, the spirit of individualism is so strong in this country 
as effectively to check legislation which appears paternalistic. 
The weak position of women and children in industry has some¬ 
what lessened the force of this argument in the case of laws 
designed to safeguard these two groups, but labor legislation 
in behalf of men is still regarded suspiciously in many quarters. 

Second, it is difficult to secure uniform laws among the sev¬ 
eral states. Labor legislation in this country has been primarily 
a state concern, but the attitude of the various states toward 
social insurance, the minimum wage, and other types of labor 


HEALTH IN INDUSTRY 


177 


legislation, has been so divergent that the resulting laws have 
often been conflicting. In many cases states fear to enact 
laws which they believe will hamper local employers and en¬ 
courage the migration of capital to states which are more 
lenient in this regard. 

Third, an important obstacle to labor legislation in the United 
States has been the difficulty of enacting laws which the courts 
will not declare unconstitutional. The constitutional provision 1 
that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property with¬ 
out due process of law has often been interpreted by the courts 
in such a way as to nullify laws designed to safeguard the inter¬ 
ests of the-working classes. For example, a law restricting the 
employment of women might be declared unconstitutional on 
the grounds that it interferes with the “liberty” of women to 
work as many hours, and for as small a wage, as they choose. 

Within the last decade, however, the obstacle of constitu¬ 
tionality appears to have declined in importance. Our Supreme 
Courts often reverse their own decisions, as well as negative the 
decisions of the lower courts, and it is therefore difficult to 
ascertain what is truly the trend of judicial decision. Never¬ 
theless, many authorities believe that we are on the verge of 
an era in which the courts will weigh labor legislation primarily 
in the light of its social benefit, and only secondarily with re¬ 
spect to how it squares with the technicalities of the Constitution. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What three questions are discussed in this chapter? 

2. What is the extent of child labor in the United States? 

3. What are some of the causes of child labor? 

4. What are the chief results of child labor? 

5. Discuss Federal legislation with respect to child labor. 

6. Outline the minimum provisions of a good child labor law. 

7. Why do women generally get lower wages than men? 

8. What is meant by the minimum wage? 

9. What are the chief arguments in favor of the minimum wage? 

10. Give the chief arguments against it. 

11. What is meant by social insurance? 

1 See the fifth amendment to the Federal Constitution, Appendix. 


x 7 8 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


12. Discuss the four forms of social insurance. Which have been 

applied in this country? 

13. What are the three great obstacles to labor legislation in this 

country? Which of these appears to you to be the most im¬ 
portant? Which appears to you to be the easiest to overcome? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xix. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Burch and Patterson, American Social Problems, chapter xiv. 

3. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xxviii. 

4. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter xxiii. 

5. Taussig, Principles of Economics, Vol. ii, chapter viii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Why is child labor not always the cheapest labor? (Burch and 

Patterson, page 172.) 

2. What is the sweat shop system? (Burch and Patterson, page 174.) 

3. What are the chief occupations in which women are found? (Burch 

and Patterson, page 175.) 

4. What is meant by the “dangerous trades”? (Burch and Patter¬ 

son, pages 176-177.) 

5. What is the extent of railway accidents in this country? (Burch 

and Patterson, pages 178-179.) 

6. What are the main causes of irregular earnings? (Taussig, page 323.) 

7. What form of social insurance was first developed in this country? 

(Ely, page 588.) 

8. Outline the British - Workmen’s Compensation Act. (Taussig, 

page 325.) 

9. What are the main features of the German system of old age 

insurance? (Taussig, page 331.) 

10. What difficulties are encountered in insuring workmen against 

unemployment? (Taussig, pages 337-340.) 

11. What is the “contributory principle” in social insurance? (Fetter, 

pages 363-364.) 

12. What are the chief objections to social insurance? (Ely, pages 

593 - 594 .) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. The extent of child labor in your state. 

2. Control of child labor by the laws of your state. 

3. The difficulties of enacting child labor legislation to cover the 


HEALTH IN INDUSTRY 179 

employment of children in agriculture. Interview some one 
familiar with farming conditions for data on this topic. 

4. Relation of child labor to the administration of the school attend¬ 

ance laws in, your community. 

5. Extent to which women are employed in industrial establishments 

in your community or state. 

6. Interview a friendly employer on the relative desirability of men 

and women employees. 

7. The status of the minimum wage in your state. 

8. Social insurance in your state. 

9. Interview the officials of a trade union concerning the payment 

of sickness insurance by the union. 

10. The emergency treatment of injured workmen in a near-by mill 

or factory. Compare this treatment with the treatment outlined 
in the references which are appended to Topic 21. 

11 

11. Causes of child labor. (Mangold, Problems of Child Welfare, 

part iv, chapter i.) 

12. Effects of child labor. (Mangold, Problems of Child Welfare, part 

iv, chapter iii.) 

13. Women in industry. (Select some phase of this problem for report. 

Consult Butler, Women and the Trades; MacLean, Women 
Workers and Society, Kelley, Some Ethical Gains through Leg¬ 
islation; Annals, vol. lxv; Abbot, Women in Industry, and 
similar works.) 

14. Relation of home conditions to industrial efficiency. ( Annals, 

vol. lxv, pages 277-288.) 

15. Industrial efficiency of women compared with that of men. (Lee, 

The Human Machine and Industrial Efficiency, chapter x.) 

16. Housing the unskilled worker. (Wood, The Housing of the Un¬ 

skilled Wage-earner .) 

17. Work of the National Housing Association. (Write to the associa¬ 

tion office in Washington, D. C., for descriptive literature.) 

18. Summary of Irving Fisher’s report on national vitality. ( Bulletin 

of the Committee of One Hundred on National Health, etc., pre¬ 
pared for the National Conservation Commission, by Irving 
Fisher, Washington, 1909.) 

19. Preventable diseases. (Hutchinson, Preventable Diseases .) 

20. Occupational diseases. (Oliver, Diseases of Occupation .) 

21. How to act in case of an accident. (Gulick, Emergencies; Tolman, 

Hygiene for the Worker, chapter xvi.) 

22. The right to leisure time. (Kelley, Some Ethical Gains through 

Legislation, chapters iii and iv.) 


i8o 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


23. Legal status of workmen’s compensation. ( Annals , vol. xxxviii, 

No. 1, pages 117-168.) 

24. Health insurance. (Rubinow, Standards of Health Insurance, 

chapters iii and iv.) 

25. The police power. (Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United 

States, chapter xii.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

26. The minimum wage for men. 

27. Should old age and sickness insurance be made a feature of the 

social insurance program of your state? 

28. Should pensions be paid out of public funds to mothers having 

dependent children? 

29. Should labor legislation be enacted primarily by the Federal or 

by the state governments? 


CHAPTER XX 


IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 

215. Racial elements in our population.—The Federal census 
of 1920 gave the population of continental United States as 
105,710,620. Approximately nine tenths of this population is 
white, while about one tenth is negro. Those who are neither 
white nor negro, namely, American Indians and Asiatics, to¬ 
gether constitute less than one half of one per cent of the pop¬ 
ulation. 

The great majority of our people are either European immi¬ 
grants, or the descendants of European immigrants who came 
to this country within the last century and a half. With refer¬ 
ence to European immigration we distinguish three groups: 
the foreign-born, the native-born children of the foreign-born, 
and natives. Natives include those whose ancestors have been 
in this country two or more generations. On the basis of this 
classification, about one seventh of our population is foreign- 
born while over one third is either foreign-born or the native- 
born children of foreign-born parents. 

The ease with which immigrants have adapted themselves 
to American life prevents any accurate classification of nationali¬ 
ties in our population, but probably Great Britain and Ireland, 
Germany, Italy, Russia, (including Poland), and Austria- 
Hungary have, in the order named, contributed the largest 
numbers. 

216. The “old” immigration.—European immigration to 
the United States may be divided into two groups, the “old” 
and the “new.” The “old” immigration extended from the 
beginning of our national history to about the year 1880, and 
was derived chiefly from Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, 
and the Scandinavian countries. Between 1820 (the first year 
for which we have accurate records) and 1880, about nine 
tenths of our immigrants came from these countries. 

181 


i 82 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


The striking features of the “old” immigration should be 
noted. In comparison with present-day immigration, it was 
relatively small in volume. In view of the abundance here of 
free land, and our consequent need for pioneers, the small 
volume of immigration prevented the rise of any serious prob¬ 
lem. Moreover, the “old” immigration was largely made up 
of individuals who were similar to the original American 
colonists in political ideals, social training, and economic back¬ 
ground. The “old” immigration therefore merged with the 
native stock fairly easily and rapidly. 

217. The “old” gives way to the “new” immigration. — In 
the period centering about the year 1880 there was a distinct 
shift in the immigration movement. Whereas before 1880 most 
of our immigrants had been Anglo-Saxons and Teutons from 
northern Europe, after 1880 the majority of our immigrants 
were members of the Mediterranean and Slavic races from 
southern and southeastern Europe. Before 1880 about nine 
tenths of the aliens coming to our shores were from northern 
Europe and only one tenth were from southern and southeastern 
Europe. In the period since 1880, less than one fourth of our 
immigrants have come from northern Europe, while more than 
three fourths have been derived from southern and south¬ 
eastern Europe. The bulk of this new immigration has come 
from Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Italy, 
and the Balkan countries. 

218. Increasing volume of immigration. — Since it is in 
connection with the “new” immigration that the modern 
immigration problem arises, it will be profitable to inquire more 
fully into the character of the movement after about 1880. 

Not only has the character of immigration changed since 
the eighties, but the volume of immigration has steadily in¬ 
creased. Of approximately 35,000,000 immigrants who have 
come to our shores since 1800, more than half have come 
within the last thirty-five years. The peak of immigration 
was reached in the decade preceding the World War, when as 
many as a million and a quarter of immigrants landed in this 
country in a single year. This heavy flow was interrupted by 


IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 183 

the World War, but after the signing of the armistice in the 
fall of 1918, a heavy immigration again set in. 1 

219. Distribution of the “new” immigration.—One of the 
most significant facts in connection with the immigration prob¬ 
lem is that our immigrant population is unequally distributed. 
About two thirds of the immigrants in this country are in the 
North Atlantic division; about a quarter of them are located 
in the North Central division; while less than one tenth are 
located in the western and southern sections of the country 
combined. Three fourths of our foreign-born live in the cities 
of the North Atlantic and North Central divisions. Forty 
per cent of the present population of New York City is foreign 
born, while in Boston and Chicago more than a third of the 
population is foreign born. In the smaller manufacturing 
cities of the North Atlantic division it often happens that 
from half to four fifths of the population is foreign born. 

220. Economic effects of immigration. — In the earlier part 
of our national history free land was abundant and immigration 
relatively small in volume; after the eighties free land dis¬ 
appeared and immigration increased rapidly. It was toward 
the end of the nineteenth century, therefore, that the economic 
aspect of the immigration problem became acute. In the last 
decades of that century manufacturing developed rapidly, and 
American cities became important centers of population. 
Large numbers of immigrants were attracted by the opportuni¬ 
ties for employment in urban centers. An addition to this 
factor, immigrants continued to concentrate in the cities, partly 
because of the spirit of clannishness, partly because of the 

1 Various classes of immigrants are excluded from the United States 
by the immigration laws summarized in section 223 of this chapter. 
In addition to these, laws, which may be said to constitute the basis of 
our permanent immigration policy, President Harding signed, in May, 
1921, a bill relative to the temporary exclusion of aliens who would 
ordinarily be admissible. This temporary exclusion act provided that 
between July 1, 1921, and June 30, 1922, the number of immigrants 
entering the United States from any other country might not exceed 
three per cent of the former immigrants from that country who were 
within the bounds of the United States at the time of the last census. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


184 

disappearance of free land, and partly because the development 
of agricultural machinery reduced the demand for agricultural 
laborers. Still another influence was the fact that the un¬ 
familiar American farm was less attractive to the southern 
European immigrant than was the opportunity of performing 
unskilled labor in the city. To-day four fifths of our immigrants 
are unskilled laborers who are employed chiefly in mining, con¬ 
struction work, transportation, and domestic service. 

From the economic standpoint, the chief objection to unre¬ 
stricted immigration is that it prevents the wages of American 
workmen from rising as rapidly as would otherwise be the case. 
The newly arrived immigrant usually has a lower standard of 
living than has the native American; that is to say, the immi¬ 
grant is content with less in the way of food, clothing, house 
room and education than is the native. When newly arrived 
immigrants come into competition with native workmen, the 
immigrant generally offers to work for a lower wage than the 
native. But though relatively low, this wage is so much higher 
than the newly arrived immigrant has been used to, that he 
feels justified in marrying early and rearing a large family. 
This adds to the supply of unskilled labor. 

In order to compete with the recent immigrant, the native 
must accept relatively low wages. In order to get along on 
these relatively low wages, the native must either lower his 
standard of living or postpone marriage. Sometimes he has low¬ 
ered his standard of living; sometimes he has preferred to retain 
his relatively high standard of living, and to get along on the de¬ 
creased wage either by postponing marriage, or by permanently 
abandoning his plans for a normal family life. It is con¬ 
tended, therefore, that an 6versupply of unskilled immigrant 
labor in this country has had at least two injurious results. 
First, it has kept the standard of living of American workmen 
from rising as rapidly as would otherwise have been possible. 
Second, it has caused the birth rate to decline among the native 
groups. 

221. Social effects of immigration. — The tendency of im¬ 
migrants to concentrate in American cities gives rise to a number 


IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 185 

of serious social problems. Urban congestion is unqualifiedly 
bad. It is difficult or impossible for immigrants living in 
crowded quarters to maintain proper health standards. Nor 
do*es overcrowding conduce to healthy morals. The foreign 
born do not show an unusual tendency toward crime, which 
is remarkable when we consider the immigrant’s ignorance of 
our laws, as well as the ease with which unscrupulous persons 
exploit him. On the other hand, the children of the foreign 
born often show a strong tendency toward crime and vice, a 
fact which is attributed to the bad social conditions surrounding 
their homes. The percentage of dependency among immi¬ 
grants is rather high. This is not surprising, however, for many 
immigrants must go through an adjustment period in which lack 
of financial reserves is likely to force them to call upon chari¬ 
table agencies for temporary aid. 

222. Difficulty of assimilating the “new” immigration.— 
Those who made up the “old” immigration assimilated rapidly: 
they were relatively like the native stock in manners and cus¬ 
toms, the volume of immigration was relatively small, and the 
newcomers spread out into frontier communities where habitual 
contact with natives was unavoidable. 

Those who make up the “new” immigration have assimilated 
less rapidly: they are relatively unlike the native stock in 
language, race, and customs; the volume of immigration is 
very great; and rather than being uniformly distributed, the 
“new” immigrants tend to concentrate in cities where they 
are often little subject to contact with natives. Members of 
foreign “colonies” not only tend to remain ignorant of American 
life, but unfamiliarity with self-government encourages their 
exploitation by political “bosses.” It is admitted by the most 
careful students that the lack of proper civic ideals among 
unassimilated foreigners in American cities is a large element 
in the corruption of our municipal governments. 

223. Restrictive legislation. — Exclusive control of immi¬ 
gration is vested in the Federal government. During the Civil 
War Congress actually encouraged immigration, but since 1882 
our policy has been one of restriction. In the latter year the 


i86 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


first general immigration act was passed, though considerable 
legislation on the subject was already on the statute books. 
Supplementary laws were enacted from time to time, the most 
important piece of legislation since 1900 being the Immigration 
Act of 1917. A brief summary of this and previous acts will 
serve to show the nature and extent of Federal control over 
immigration. 

The chief aim of our immigration laws has been so to restrict 
immigration as to protect us against undesirable persons. In 
the interest of health, persons afflicted with contagious diseases, 
such as tuberculosis, and trachoma, — a virulent eye disease,— 
are excluded. Certain persons whose character is clearly im¬ 
moral are excluded. Polygamists are excluded. The Act of 
1917 excludes anarchists, and likewise bars from our shores all 
criminals, except those who have committed political 
offenses not recognized by the United States. In order to re¬ 
duce unnecessary tax burdens, as well as to safeguard commu¬ 
nity health, we also exclude insane persons, idiots, epileptics, 
beggars, and other persons likely to become public charges. 
Contract laborers are specifically excluded, the Act of 1917 
using the term “contract labor” to include anyone “induced, 
assisted, encouraged, or solicited” to come to this country 
“by any kind of promise or agreement, express or implied, true 
or false, to find employment.” Persons over sixteen years of 
age are excluded from the United States if they cannot read 
English or some other language. 1 

The bars against Asiatics call for a special word. 

224 . Asiatic immigration. — By Asiatic immigration is here 
meant Chinese and Japanese immigration, immigrants from 
other parts of Asia being relatively unimportant. 

The discovery of gold in California in 1849 caused a large 
number of Chinese coolies to migrate to this country. This 
immigration grew steadily until 1882, in which year the entrance 
of Chinese laborers into the United States was forbidden. Our 

1 Certain near relatives of admissible aliens, purely political offenders, 
and persons seeking refuge from religious persecution, are exempted 
from this literacy test, however. 


IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 


187 


exclusion policy has been repeatedly reaffirmed, as the result 
of which there are to-day fewer than 70,000 Chinese in this 
country. The majority of these are found on the Pacific 
Coast, engaged as small tradesmen, truck farmers, or personal 
servants. 

Japanese immigration to this country did not become notice¬ 
able until about 1900. After that date, however, the volume 
of Japanese immigration so alarmed the Pacific Coast.states 
that a Japanese exclusion policy was formulated as early as 
1907. At present the only classes of Japanese that are allowed 
to reside Jn this country permanently are “former residents,” 
“parents, wives or children of residents,” or “settled agricultur¬ 
ists,” the latter being Japanese already in possession of land 
here. There are at present fewer than 120,000 Japanese in 
this country. Most of them are found on the Pacific Coast, 
engaged in occupations similar to those of the Chinese in the 
same area. 1 

Those most familiar with the situation are practically unani¬ 
mous in declaring for the continued exclusion of Chinese and 
Japanese immigrants. In the case of both races, the standard 
of living is so much lower than that of native Americans that 
open competition between the newly arrived Asiatic and the 
native American would result in the latter being driven from 
the labor market. The most important social reason for the 
exclusion of these two races is that the differences of race and 
religion existing between Asiatics and native Americans render 
assimilation of the Chinese and Japanese extremely difficult, 
if not impossible. 

225 . The future of immigration. — A half century ago the 
belief was current that an immigration policy was unnecessary, 
since the sources of immigration would eventually dry up. 
The sources of the “old” immigration have dried up somewhat, 
but new sources have been opened up in southern and south¬ 
eastern Europe. Immigration is a pressing social problem, 
and it is likely that it will be even more pressing in the future. 

1 Chinese and Japanese students desiring to study in this country 
are allowed to enter the United States by special arrangement. 


188 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


The American frontier has disappeared and our boundaries 
are fixed. Urbanization is proceeding at a rapid rate, industry 
is becoming more complex, public opinion is more insistent 
that such social problems as immigration shall be solved. 

226. What shall be our attitude toward immigration? — 
There is no good reason why immigration should be absolutely 
prohibited. On the other hand, the most public-spirited stu¬ 
dents of the question believe that the careful restriction of 
immigration is imperative. Clearly, it is our duty to accept 
only such immigrants as show promise of becoming capable 
and efficient American citizens. It is also clearly our duty to 
accept even this type of immigrant only in such numbers as 
we can conveniently assimilate. We must not be selfish with 
America, but we should not be misled by the statement that 
anyone in Europe has a “right” to make his home in this 
country. Those who come to this country are personally 
benefited, no doubt, but unrestricted immigration may lower 
the tone of American life and permanently injure our social 
and political institutions. America is for the present generation, 
but is also for posterity. The millions of unborn have as 
much right to be considered as have the millions now clamoring 
at our gates. For this reason, the “right” of an individual to 
migrate to America must be interpreted in the light of what 
he will mean to the future of this country. 

227. Helping the immigrant in his new home. — The re~ 
adjustment, assimilation, or “Americanization” of the im¬ 
migrant is a problem of vital importance. The term “American¬ 
ization” is variously interpreted, and must be used with care. 
Americanization ought not to force the immigrant to give up 
his native tongue, or his old-country customs. It ought to 
be a mutually helpful process, whereby native Americans 
would help the immigrant in adjusting himself to his new 
environment, while, in turn, the immigrant would be permitted 
and encouraged to make his own contribution to American 
life. Since the immigrant has little or no opportunity to con¬ 
tribute to American life until he has become adjusted to his 
new home, it follows that the most fundamental part of an 


IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 189 

Americanization program is one of helping the immigrant 
solve his problems. 

In carrying out this part of the Americanization program 
it is essential that the newly arrived alien be protected against 
unscrupulous persons who seek to exploit him. Adequate 
laws ought to be supplemented by the work of immigrant aid 
societies and other private organizations whose duty it would 
be to protect immigrants against dishonest boarding houses, 
swindlers, unreliable banks, and other forms of imposition. 
Friendly help of this type will do much toward encouraging 
and inspiring the alien in his new life. 

Improvement in the immigrant’s economic status is an im¬ 
portant part of an Americanization program. Not only does 
the undue concentration of immigrants in cities spell ill-health 
and a great temptation to crime and vice, but immigrant 
laborers sometimes secure lower wages in cities than they would 
receive in the more sparsely settled parts of the country. Of 
considerable interest, therefore, is the recent development of 
plans for redistributing immigrants into the rural and sparsely 
populated districts. 1 Since 1907 the Division of Information 
in the Bureau of Labor Statistics has done valuable work in 
finding employment for immigrants in rural districts. Much 
remains to be done, however. 

The school, of course, is an important agent of American¬ 
ization. Whether or not the immigrant retains his old-country 
language, he ought to learn to speak, read and write English. 
The school is likewise an important means of instructing the 
newcomers and their children in the essentials of American 
history and government. Where the school is being used as 
a real community center, the institution becomes truly a method 
of introducing the foreign-born to the everyday activities of 
American life. The increasing emphasis upon the racial traits 
of different immigrant groups, with a view to encouraging 
unique contributions to the culture of the community, deserves 
special notice. 

1 The movement to transfer immigrants to the rural districts is 
not unqualifiedly good; indeed, it may do more harm than good. 
For the dangers of this movement, see Chapter XXV. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


190 

Americanization measures of the type touched upon in this 
section help to build the nation on a sound foundation of friendly 
and intelligent cooperation. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What proportion of our population is foreign-born? What propor¬ 

tion is native? 

2. Distinguish between the “ old” and the “new” immigration. 

3. Describe the increasing volume of immigration. 

4. Outline the distribution of immigrants in this country. 

5. What are the economic effects of immigration? 

6. Explain the relation of immigration to the wages and standard of 

living of American workmen. 

7. What are the social effects of immigration? 

8. What factors impede the assimilation of the “new” immigrants? 

9. What classes of aliens are excluded from this country? What is 

“contract labor”? 

10. What is the nature of Asiatic immigration? Why are Asiatics 

excluded? 

11. Does it seem likely that the immigration problem will be more 

or less acute in the future? Why? 

12. What should be our attitude toward immigration? 

13. What is the chief aim of a good Americanization program? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xx. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 

vol. xciii, pages 134-138, 156-161. 

3. Burch and Patterson, American Social Problems, chapters ix and x. 

4. Ell wood, Sociology and Modern Social Problems, chapter x. 

5. Roberts, The Problem of Americanization, chapters iii and iv. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Define a foreigner. {Annals, page 135.) 

2. What is Professor Walker’s theory of immigration? (Burch and 

Patterson, pages 95-96.) 

3. Compare the “old” and the “new” immigration in 1882. (Ell- 

wood, page 217.) 

4. Compare the “old” and the “new” immigration in 1907. (Ell- 

wood, page 218.) 


IMMIGRATION AND ASSIMILATION 


191 

5. What are the three most important groups of immigrants at the 

present time? (Burch and Patterson, pages 108-111.) 

6. What is the extent of illiteracy among the immigrant population? 

(Burch and Patterson, pages 115-116.) 

7. Discuss the occupational distribution of immigrants. (Ellwood, 

pages 223-224.) 

8. What is the “racial” argument against unrestricted immigration? 

(Ellwood, pages 234-235.) 

9. How can the average citizen help in the Americanization move¬ 

ment? (Roberts, pages 45-47.) 

10. Why should the Americanization worker make himself familiar 

with the conditions under which the immigrant works? (Rob¬ 
erts, pages 48-53-) 

11. What is the significance of the club life of immigrant groups? 

(Roberts, pages 57-61.) 

12. What is the importance of the “advisory council” in American¬ 

ization work? (Roberts, pages 86-87.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Classify the residents of your community according as they are 

(a) Foreign born 

( b ) Native-born children of foreign-born parents, or 

( c ) Natives. 

2. Study your community with the aim of determining whether or 

not the character of its immigrant class has changed within 
the last twenty-five years. 

3. Classify the immigrant groups of your community on the basis 

of occupation. Notice in particular the proportion of immigrants 
engaged in agriculture and in the trained professions. 

4. Make a visit to a near-by foreign colony, and report to the class 

upon your observations. 

5. Interview the officials of a trade union on the effect of unrestricted 

immigration upon wages. 

6 . Draw up a workable plan for the redistribution of immigrants 

in your state. 

7. Draw up a plan for an Americanization survey in your state. 

(Write to the Bureau of Education in the U. S . Department of 
the Interior, for Bulletin, 1919, No. 77, on State Americanization.) 

II 

8. Race elements in the population of the American colonies. (Com¬ 

mons, Races and Immigrants in America , chapter ii.) 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


192 

9. History of immigration to the United States. (Any standard 
text on immigration.) 

10. The journey to America. (Abbot, The Immigrant and the Com¬ 

munity, chapter i; Steiner, On the trail of the Immigrant; Antin, 
They Who Knock at Our Gates. See also Miss Antin’s The 
Promised Land.) 

11. Assisted immigration. (R. Mayo Smith, Emigration and Immi¬ 

gration,, chapter ix.) 

12. Geographical distribution of immigration. (Semple, American 

History and its Geographic Conditions, chapter xv.) 

13. Economic aspects of immigration. (Consult any standard text 

on immigration.) 

14. “Birds of passage.” (Consult any standard text on immigration.) 

15. Immigration and the trade unions. (Carlton, History and Prob¬ 

lems of Organzied Labor, chapter xi. See also any standard text 
on immigration.) 

16. Social aspects of immigration. (Consult any standard text on 

immigration.) 

17. Political aspects of immigration. (Consult any standard text on 

immigration.) 

18. Chinese immigration. (Coolidge, Chinese Immigration; Hall, 

Immigration, chapter xv; Jenks and Lauck, The Immigration 
Problem, pages 231-237; Annals, vol. xciii, pages 7-13; Gulick, 
American Democracy and Asiatic Citizenship) 

19. Japanese immigration. ( Annals, vol. xciii, part i; Jenks and 

Lauck, The Immigration Problem, pages 241-252; Steiner, 
The Japanese Invasion; Gulick, American Democracy and 
Asiatic Citizenship.) 

20. Americanization. ( Annals , vol. xciii, part iii; Woods, Americans 

in Process; Steiner, From Alien to Citizen; Bogardus, Essentials 
of Americanization; Roberts, The Problem of Americanization.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

21. Is assisted immigration an evil? 

22. Can immigrants be redistributed effectively by governmental 

agencies? 

23. Should we retain the literacy test as part of our immigration policy? 

24. At the present time many aliens journey across the Atlantic only 

to find that, for various reasons, they cannot be admitted to 
this country. How might the resulting disappointment and 
loss of time and money be avoided? 


CHAPTER XXI 


CRIME AND CORRECTION 

228. The nature of crime. — A crime is an act which is 
punishable by law because it is considered injurious to the 
community. If the average man were a hermit, living entirely 
alone, his actions would affect only himself, and he would be 
subjected to little or no control by any community. But the 
average man is a member of a highly civilized community, 
and what he does, or what he fails to do, often profoundly 
affects other individuals. Members of the community there¬ 
fore agree upon standards of conduct, to which individuals 
must conform. 1 It is the failure to conform to these standards 
which constitutes a crime, and which entails punishment by law. 

What constitutes a crime depends, of course, upon the level 
of civilization reached by a community, and upon the inter¬ 
pretation which it places upon right conduct. A deed considered 
heroic in one age may be considered a crime in a later century. 
In the days of chivalry, for example, it was sometimes con¬ 
sidered heroic to rob or even kill wicked nobles in order to dis¬ 
tribute their wealth to the poor. At the present time, of course, 
such acts would constitute a crime. 

229. The causes of crime. — The causes of crime are so 
various and so complex that their accurate classification is 
impossible. But some light may be thrown upon the subject 
if we think of crime as influenced by economic, social, personal, 
and political factors. 

Looking at crime from an economic point of view, it is obvious 
that poverty often accompanies crime. In many cases, it is 

1 Where democracy does not exist, or is only partially developed, laws 
may be imposed upon the group from without. In such a country as 
the United States, however, legal standards of conduct are preeminently 
the result of mutual agreements, freely entered into. 

193 


194 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


claimed, such crimes as larceny, forgery, and robbery are directly 
traceable to poverty. Similarly, it is said that unemployment 
and industrial accidents may incite individuals to crime. Many 
authorities claim, however, that while bad economic conditions 
accompany and often encourage crime, such conditions alone 
are not a direct cause of crime. According to this latter view, 
poverty, for example, will not cause a person to commit a crime 
unless he is feeble-minded, depraved in morals, or otherwise 
defective in character. 

While there is a good deal of dispute as to whether or not 
poverty is a direct cause of crime, it is quite generally agreed 
that a bad economic situation gives rise to social conditions 
which can be definitely connected with criminality. The strain 
and artificiality of urban life, together with the difficulty of 
obtaining inexpensive and wholesome recreation in the poorer 
sections of large cities, has a close connection with crime. The 
overcrowding so common in tenement districts renders difficult 
or impossible the maintenance of high moral standards. Where 
mother or children are habitually employed outside the home, 
the young are often denied proper home training. Divorce, 
desertion, or the death of the bread-winner may break up the 
family and indirectly give rise to illiteracy, vice, and crime. 

Often indistinguishable from the social causes are the personal 
causes of crime. Where alcoholism or vicious habits are given 
as the cause of crime, it may be impossible to say whether 
social or personal defect is primarily to blame. Illiteracy, 
superficially a personal cause of crime, may often be traced to 
a bad social environment. Thus an individual may be illiterate 
because his parents were unwilling or unable to send him to 
school, or because evil companions discouraged him from study. 
Such personal causes as mental defect are extremely important, 
indeed, many students maintain that bad economic and social 
conditions are negligible causes of crime, unless found in con¬ 
nection with low mentality and a depraved moral sense. 

Last among the causes of crime we may consider defects in 
government. The laws of a community may be so numerous, 
or so unwisely worded, that even responsible individuals violate 


CRIME AND CORRECTION 


195 

them without understanding the nature of their act. After 
children have committed petty offenses through carelessness or 
a sense of mischief, the harshness of the police may so embitter 
or antagonize the culprits that their criminal tendencies are 
intensified. An important cause of crime is the custom, still 
common in many states, of imprisoning young and first offenders 
in county jails, where they are allowed to mingle with, and learn 
about crime from, hardened and depraved criminals. 

230. The remedies for crime. —The causes of crime suggest 
the nature of its remedies. Wherever bad economic conditions 
either directly or indirectly encourage crime, the remedy is, 
of course, the relief or abolition of poverty. This problem has 
already been discussed. 

Since bad social conditions are often the result of poverty, 
any measures which will lessen poverty will also remove many 
of the so-called social causes of crime. Education, the safe¬ 
guarding of the home, constructive charity, and similar measures 
will also help to remove the social causes of crime. These ques¬ 
tions are discussed elsewhere in this text, and need not be gone 
into here. 

The improvement of economic and social conditions will 
ultimately help to eliminate bad heredity, vice, and other of 
the personal causes of crime. 

With the understanding, then, that the eradication of the eco¬ 
nomic, social and personal causes of crime is discussed else¬ 
where, we may here confine ourselves to the question of pre¬ 
venting crime by remedying the defects of government. 

231. Justice as an ideal. — Justice has constituted one of 
the basic ideals of the English-speaking peoples since the days 
of Magna Charta. “To no one will we sell, and to no one will 
we refuse or delay, right or justice,” declared that great doc¬ 
ument. This conception was later glorified into an ideal which, 
after having persisted for four centuries in England, was brought 
to the New World by the English colonists. The first ten amend¬ 
ments to the Federal Constitution and the Bill of Rights con¬ 
tained in the constitutions of the several states have been called 
by Lord Bryce “the legitimate children of Magna Charta.” 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


196 

Since the beginning of our history, thus, a great cornerstone 
of American democracy has been the concept of sound and 
equitable law, impartially and effectively administered. 

232 . The denial of justice. — Within the last decade we 
have come to realize that in many of the criminal courts of 
this country justice is an ideal rather than a fact. “The ad¬ 
ministration of criminal law in all the states of this Union/’ 
said Chief Justice Taft a few years ago, “is a disgrace to civi¬ 
lization.” 

Our criminal law is administered unjustly in two ways. 

First, it sometimes allows the rich, the cunning, and the 
powerful offenders to escape the penalty for their crimes. In 
many states the court dockets are so crowded that influential 
offenders are not convicted for years, if at all. Rich prisoners 
may be released on bail, and consideration of their case so 
delayed that the evidence disappears. Public interest is 
diverted to new cases, and eventually the case may be quietly 
dismissed. Mr. Taft points out that we lead the world in the 
number of serious crimes which go unpunished. Appeals are 
allowed almost as a matter of course, so that in many serious 
criminal trials the original verdict is only the beginning of the 
case. 

Second, the law which often allows the powerful and crafty to 
avoid punishment may operate to deny justice to the poor. 
Ignorant prisoners are in many cases so bewildered by cumber¬ 
some and technical court procedure that they allow their cases 
to be disposed of without adequate protection of their rights. 
Often they have no one to advise them as to their constitutional 
rights and privileges. If they are not only ignorant but poor, 
they find themselves unable to employ proper counsel. The 
Constitution indeed recognizes the right of an accused person to 
have counsel, but in many states if a man is too poor or 
too ignorant to secure a lawyer, he is obliged to stand trial 
without anyone to represent or advise him. In some states, 
the court appoints a lawyer to represent such defendants. 
Sometimes the assigned counsel is dishonest, and too often his 
primary object is to get a fee rather than to secure justice for 


CRIME AND CORRECTION 


197 


his client. Generally the counsel so appointed is inexperienced, 
and consequently no match for an able and experienced prose¬ 
cuting attorney, whose reputation may depend upon the number 
of convictions that he secures. 

233 . The reform of criminal procedure. — The reform of 
criminal procedure is assuming great importance as a problem 
of American democracy. In many states there is a demand 
for a wider and more energetic use of the Bertillon and finger 
print systems for the identification of criminals. Because of 
the fact that in our large cities a heavy percentage of crimes are 
committed without the subsequent arrest of the culprit, there 
is a growing demand for the improvement of our police systems. 
Our criminal law needs to be simplified, so that justice may not 
be delayed by technicalities, long arguments on the admis¬ 
sibility of evidence, and the abuse of the right of appeal. Prob¬ 
ably a good many of the delays and technicalities of legal pro¬ 
cedure could be avoided if at the trial the judge were to exercise 
a greater amount of control over the proceedings. 

The reform of criminal procedure has a double aim. First, it 
aims to reorganize and perfect criminal procedure so that 
persons who have committed an offense will be apprehended 
and always made to pay the penalty for their crimes. Toward 
the achievement of this ideal we have as yet done very little. 
We are still woefully behind such a country as England, where 
justice is administered with relative rapidity and sureness. 
Second, the reform of criminal prodecure aims to prevent the 
law from bearing with undue weight upon the poor and ignor¬ 
ant. Here we are making greater progress. Let us notice what 
is being done to guarantee justice to persons who are unable 
adequately to safeguard their own legal rights. 

234 . The legal aid society. — A valuable institution is the 
legal aid society, which originated in New York City in 1876, 
and which has since spread to other parts of the country. Of 
the forty legal aid societies now in existence in this country, 
some of the better known are located in New York City, Los 
Angeles, Kansas City, Boston, and Chicago. The legal aid 
society is generally a private organization, created and main- 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


198 

tained by public-spirited citizens who believe that the poor and 
ignorant ought to be given legal advice free of charge, or upon 
the payment of a nominal fee. These societies extend advice 
on both civil and criminal matters. The legal aid society helps 
materially to secure justice by acquainting the individual with 
his legal rights, and by acting as his counsel in court. Such 
organizations are especially valuable in safeguarding the rights 
and privileges of immigrants in large cities. The total number 
of persons helped annually by legal aid societies in the United 
States is over 100,000. 

235 . The Public Defender. — The Public Defender move¬ 
ment is an outgrowth of the feeling that it is unfair for the court 
to assign an inexperienced and sometimes unreliable lawyer 
to defend a penniless prisoner, while the case is prosecuted by 
a skilful district attorney. In spite of the presumption that 
the prisoner is innocent until he is proved guilty, such practices 
as this have operated as though the prisoner were presumed 
to be guilty. 

In 1912 Oklahoma attempted to remedy this evil by appoint¬ 
ing a Public Defender whose duty it should be to aid in the 
defense of persons unable to employ counsel. The next year 
the city of Los Angeles appointed a Public Defender who, as 
a sworn public counsel of experience and integrity, makes it 
his business to defend poor prisoners without charge. A few 
years later, Portland, Oregon, and Omaha, Nebraska, appointed 
similar officers. Since 1916 many other cities, and a few states, 
have provided for a Public Defender of some kind, although in 
many cases the provision is as yet inadequate. In all cities 
in which the plan has been given a trial, the Public Defender 
has been instrumental in securing justice for the poor, and in 
raising the moral tone of the criminal trial. By eliminating 
much unnecessary delay from the criminal trial, the Public 
Defender has also helped to reduce court expenses. 

236. Changing ideals in penology. — In the early stages of 
society the spirit of revenge seems to have been a chief motive 
in the punishment of criminals, although the desire to prevent 
crime must also have been a factor. With the progress of 


CRIME AND CORRECTION 


199 


civilization revenge declined in importance, and the punish¬ 
ment of the criminal seems to have been undertaken chiefly for 
the purpose of preventing future crimes. Long periods of 
imprisonment, inhuman punishments, and the frequent use of 
the death penalty were characteristic of this attitude toward 
crime. Curiously enough, punishments were imposed accord¬ 
ing to the seriousness of the crime committed, without regard 
to the character and needs of the criminal. 

Of recent years the theory of punishment has been still 
further modified. In the first place, we have begun to doubt 
if punishment always serves a useful purpose. Punishment 
does not always deter criminals, and for this reason it is likely 
that the death penalty and other cruel and inhuman methods 
of punishment may be dispensed with, without a resultant 
increase in the amount of crime. In the second place, punish¬ 
ment has taken on a new aim. More and more we are coming 
to believe that it should be imposed, not according to the 
seriousness of the crime committed, but according as the indi¬ 
vidual criminal needs to be punished in order to effect his 
reformation. This new attitude is based upon the assumption 
that the criminal is a person who is not adapted to the con¬ 
ditions of modern life, and that the chief aim of the authorities 
should be so to reform him that he will become a useful member 
of society. In case reform seems impossible, the criminal 
should be segregated in an institution. 

237 . Individualized treatment of offenders. — The emphasis 
now placed upon reformation has made necessary a new point of 
view on the part of the public. We are beginning to make use 
of a mass of data furnished by physiology, psychology, and so¬ 
ciology, and on the basis of these data to subject prisoners to 
individualized treatment. Instead of herding all offenders into 
a single institution such as the county jail or the penitentiary, we 
are beginning to inquire, first of all, whether the prisoner might 
not be treated most effectively outside prison walls. For 
those offenders who seem to require institutional treatment, we 
are developing a whole series of institutions, designed to care 
for special types of abnormality. Industrial and farm colonies 


200 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


for petty offenders and occasional criminals, hospitals and 
colonies for the mentally defective, industrial schools and 
reformatories for certain types of juvenile offenders, and pen¬ 
itentiaries for hardened offenders, all these are included in the 
correctional system of the more progressive states. 

238 . Substitutes for imprisonment. — The belief is growing 
that young offenders, first offenders, and those committing 
petty crimes, may often be corrected without actual imprison¬ 
ment. Increasingly common is the probation system, the 
essence of which is to suspend the sentence of the court upon 
certain conditions. The offender is placed in charge of a court 
officer who will stand in the relation of friend and guardian to 
him, in order to supervise his conduct and to attempt his 
reformation. The success of the probation system depends 
largely upon the care and judgment with which probation 
officers control their charges. 

The use of the fine deserves mention. Generally the sentence 
for a petty offense is a fine, with imprisonment as an alternative 
in case the prisoner is unable to pay the fine. Realizing the 
corrupting influence of the jail sentence for first or slight offend¬ 
ers, court officials in many cities are making the payment of 
the fine less difficult. In Buffalo, Indianapolis, Chicago, and 
other cities it is customary in some cases to allow the payment 
of a fine in instalments. This ultimately secures the fine; it 
has a disciplinary effect upon the offender; and it keeps him 
out of jail. 

239. Mental defectives. — Recent progress in medicine and 
psychology has demonstrated that many criminals are mentally 
defective. Such persons are not fully responsible for their 
acts, and nothing is to be gained by committing them to prison. 
They need special treatment in institutions for the insane, the 
feeble-minded, and the otherwise defective. In recognition of 
this fact, the criminal courts of our larger cities now make 
extensive use of psychopathic experts. It is the duty of these 
experts to determine the mental status of the prisoner, and, in 
case he is found to be mentally defective, to recommend the 
type of treatment needed. 


CRIME AND CORRECTION 


201 


This is an admirable development, provided care is taken to 
prevent the abuse of the insanity plea by influential criminals 
who, though normal mentally, seek to evade responsibility for 
their deliberate crimes. 

240 . The juvenile offender. — It has been proved that a 
large percentage of hardened criminals begin their careers by 
some careless or mischievous act for which they were severely or 
unwisely punished. Formerly, juvenile offenders were treated 
much as were adult criminals; more recently we are coming to 
believe that children ought not to be committed to penal in¬ 
stitutions, but rather should be put on probation, or sent to 
correctional institutions of a special type. Wherever possible, 
institutional treatment of every kind ought to be avoided, for 
the crimes of children are clearly in a different class from those 
of the adult. In New York City a few years ago, for example, 
half the children brought into court were there because of the 
lack of recreation facilities. Petty theft and malicious mis¬ 
chief are often traceable to bad home influences and the un¬ 
natural surroundings of the city. These circumstances, coupled 
with the fact that immature children are often unaware of 
the seriousness of their lawless acts, justify the special treatment 
of the juvenile offender. 

241 . The juvenile court. — The juvenile court has been 
created to meet the special needs of the youthful offender. 
An early institution of this kind was established in Chicago in 
1889. Shortly afterward Denver established a juvenile court, 
and since then many other cities have taken up the idea. In 
some states county judges are authorized to suspend the ordi¬ 
nary rules of procedure where the defendant is under eighteen 
years of age. 

A typical juvenile court provides separate judges and sep¬ 
arate hearings for youthful prisoners. It avoids publicity, 
investigates the home life of the youthful offender, and attempts 
by kindly treatment to guide him back into a wholesome, honest 
life. In some cases delinquent children are sent back to school, 
in other cases they are placed on probation, in still other cases 
special institutional treatment is provided. Every effort is 


202 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


made to keep juvenile offenders from associating with habitual 
criminals. The aim of the court is not to punish the offender for 
a particular offense, but to weigh all the circumstances which 
have influenced his life, and to correct his wrong tendencies. 
Work of this type is preventive in the fullest sense of the word. 

242. The indeterminate sentence. — The realization that 
punishment ought to flt the criminal rather than the crime has 
led to the indeterminate sentence. Though not yet widely 
applied, this reform is attracting more and more attention. 
A logical application of the indeterminate sentence would re¬ 
quire prisoners to be committed to prison, not for a specific 
term, but for an indefinite period. The actual length of the 
prison term would depend upon the prison record of the in¬ 
dividual, and upon the promise that he showed of becoming 
a useful and normal citizen if released. According to this plan, 
occasional criminals, and persons enticed or forced into 
wrong-doing, would be entitled to release (regardless of the 
character of the crime) as soon as it became apparent that they 
would not repeat the offense. Hardened criminals, on the other 
hand, might remain in prison permanently, even though com¬ 
mitted for a trifling offense. Certainly we ought not to continue 
to commit and to re-commit hardened criminals for short terms, 
when their past conduct proves that they have neither the 
intention nor the ability to make proper use of their freedom. 

243. The function of the modern prison. — In addition to 
the principle of the indeterminate sentence, modern penology 
has approved a whole series of supplementary measures. The 
ideal prison of to-day is not a gloomy dungeon, but a great 
plant which attempts to turn criminals into useful citizens 
through the use of the school, the chapel, the workshop, the 
gymnasium, the library, and even the theatre. Discipline, the 
fundamental weakness of offenders against the law, is a corner¬ 
stone of prison life. More and more prisons are adopting the 
merit system, according to which prisoners are graded and 
promoted to additional privileges on the basis of behavior. 
In many prisons these privileges may include an “honor system ” 
and “inmate self-government.” The prison attempts to supply 


CRIME AND CORRECTION 


203 


the deficiencies in the convict’s early training. Prisoners are 
taught to take care of their bodies. They are taught useful 
trades, according to their abilities. If illiterate they may go 
to the prison school. Religious exercises and moral instruction 
are employed to develop a sense of moral values. 

When consistent good behavior and earnest endeavor in 
prison duties indicate that the prisoner is entitled to another 
chance in the outside world, he may be paroled, that is to say, 
he may be released on certain conditions. Generally prisoners 
are not paroled until some person is found who will guarantee 
them employment. In many states the work of the parole 
board is ably supplemented by unofficial prisoners’ aid societies 
which help the released man to readjust himself to a free life. 
After a certain period of satisfactory conduct on parole the 
prisoner is entitled to a full and unconditional discharge. The 
whole aim of the parole system is to supervise the actions of 
the prisoner, without adding to his irritation or humiliation, 
but with sufficient strictness to guard him against temptation 
and to replace him in prison if he proves unworthy of the 
trust bestowed upon him. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What is a crime? 

2. In what way may bad economic conditions be connected with 

crime? 

3. What are the social causes of crime? What are the personal causes? 

4. In what way are defects of government related to crime? 

5. Summarize the remedies for crime. 

6. Trace the influence of Magna Charta upon our ideal of justice. 

7. How does the administration of our criminal law often result in 

injustice? 

8. Why is it necessary to reform our criminal procedure? 

9. What is the nature and function of the legal aid society? 

10. What is a Public Defender? How does he help secure justice? 

11. Trace the development of the theory of punishment. 

12. What is the purpose of the “individualized treatment of offenders”? 

13. What is the function of a probation system? 

14. How should mentally defective criminals be treated? 

15. Describe the work of the Juvenile Court. 


204 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


16. Outline the purpose of the indeterminate sentence. 

17. What are*the chief functions of a modern prison? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxi. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xiii. 

3. Lewis, The Offender, part iii, chapter i. 

4. Smith, Justice and the Poor, pages 105-127. 

5. Wines, Punishment and Reformation, chapter ii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Distinguish between crime, vice and sin. (Wines, page 11.) 

2. Define criminal law. (Wines, page 12.) 

3. What is the distinction between public and private wrongs? (Guit¬ 

teau, pages 140-141.) 

4. What are the first steps in a criminal action? (Guitteau, pages 

14 2-143.) 

5. What is an indictment? (Guitteau, page 143.) 

6. Outline the steps in a criminal trial. (Guitteau, pages 144-146.) 

7. What is a sumptuary law? (Wines, page 7.) 

8. What are the eight distinct protections afforded by our criminal 

law? (Smith, page 108.) 

9. What is the great defect of these protections? (Smith, page iii.) 

10. What can be said as to the future development of the Public 

Defender movement? (Smith, page 127.) 

11. Is the average age of offenders declining or increasing? (Lewis, 

page 254.) 

12. What is the relation of the school to crime? (Lewis, pages 262-270.) 

13. What is the relation of recreational facilities to crime? (Lewis, 

pages 276-285.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Make a classification of the criminal courts of your state. 

2. The use of psychopathic experts in the criminal courts of your 

state. 

3. Make a study of a near-by county jail. (Compare data gathered 

with Queen, The Passing of the County Jail.) 

4. The legal aid bureau in your state. 

5. The parole system in your state. 

6. Classify the correctional institutions in your state. What types 

of offenders are sent to each? 


CRIME AND CORRECTION 


205 

7. Interview, or write to, a prison official in your state regarding the 

practicability of the indeterminate sentence. 

11 

8. Criminal law procedure in England. ( Annals , vol. lii, pages 

200-207; Kaye, Readings in Civil Government , pages 328-335.) 

9. Criminal law procedure in the United States. (Beard, American 

Government and Politics , pages 568-577.) 

10. Defects in the enforcement of the law. (Reinsch, Readings cn 

American State Government , pages 173-181.) 

11. The courts and the criminal. (Osborne, Society and Prisons, 

chapter ii; Lewis, The Ofender, part i, chapter iii.) 

12. Reform of criminal procedure in the United States. ( Annals, 

vol. lii, pages 102-107.) 

13. The county jail. (Queen, The Passing of the County Jail.) 

14. Crime prevention from the standpoint of the police. (Woods, 

Crime Prevention; Lewis, The Ofender, part ii, chapter ii; 
Annals, vol. lii, pages 56-60.) 

15. Overcrowding in its relation to crime. (Riis, The Battle with 

the Slum; Addams, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets.) 

16. Juvenile crime. (Mangold, Problems of Child Welfare, Part V.) 

17. The Junior Republic. (George, The Junior Republic.) 

18. The work of Judge Ben Lindsay of Denver. (Consult an en¬ 

cyclopedia.) 

19. The legal aid society. (Smith, Justice and the Poor, part iii.) 

20. The Public Defender. (Smith, Justice and the Poor, pages 105- 

130-) 

21. Probation and parole. (Lewis, The Ofender, part i, chapter v.) 

22. The Jukes. (Dugdale, The Jukes.) 

23. The Kallikak family. (Goddard, The Kallikak Family.) 

24. The criminal theories of Lombroso. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

25. Modern prison systems. (Henderson, Modern Prison Systems. 

Individual students may be assigned to the study of the prison 
systems of particular countries.) 

26. Industrial training in prison. (Lewis, The Ofender, part i, chap¬ 

ters x and xii; Annals, vol. xlvi.) 

27. The discharged convict. (Booth, After Prison, What?) 

For Classroom Discussion 

28. Is crime increasing in the United States? 

29. The practicability of the indeterminate sentence. 

30. Should capital punishment be abolished? 

31. Advantages and disadvantages of the “honor system” in prison, 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE NEGRO 

244 . Origin of the American Negro. — Early in the seven¬ 
teenth century the scarcity of labor in the American colonies 
led to the introduction of African Negroes as slaves. In re¬ 
sponse to the demand for slave labor on the southern planta¬ 
tions, the importation of Negroes increased steadily during the 
next century. The slave trade was nominally abolished in 
1808, but Negroes continued to be brought in until the Civil 
War period. In September, 1862, President Lincoln proclaimed 
abolished both the slave trade and the institution of slavery 
in the United States. The legality of this act was substan¬ 
tiated in 1865 by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal 
Constitution. 

245 . Rise of the Negro problem.—The Emancipation 
Proclamation, followed by the Thirteenth Amendment, con¬ 
ferred freedom upon four million slaves. In 1868 the Four¬ 
teenth Amendment made the freed Negroes citizens of the 
United States, and in 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment en¬ 
franchised them. Largely as the result of these measures, the 
problem of the slave developed into the present Negro problem. 
The racial differences between the white and the Negro, as 
well as the demoralizing effects of slavery, promised to render 
difficult the adjustment of the Negro to American life. The 
situation was made more serious by the suddenness of eman¬ 
cipation, and by the fact that the vote was extended the Negroes 
before most of them were ready for it. The economic, social, and 
political upheaval effected in the South by the war, together 
with the bitterness with which many southern white men re¬ 
garded the newly freed Negroes, also contributed to the difficulty 
of the situation. Lastly, the Negro became a problem because 
of the lack of a national program in his behalf. 

206 


THE NEGRO 


207 


246. Numbers and distribution. — In 1920 the Federal census 
gave 10,463,131 as the Negro population of the United States. 
According to these figures the Negro constitutes slightly less 
than one tenth of our total population. Eighty-five per cent 
of the Negroes live in the South. In Mississippi and South 
Carolina the Negro exceeds the white population, while in 
several other southern states the Negro constitutes from one 
fourth to one hah of the total population. 

About three fourths of our Negroes five in the rural districts. 
There is, however, an important migratory movement which 
operates to decrease this percentage. There is a growing tend¬ 
ency for southern Negroes to leave the rural districts and to 
move cityward. Chiefly because of the economic attractions 
of urban fife, many rural Negroes are moving toward the south¬ 
ern city; in search of social equality as well as greater economic 
opportunities, many southern Negroes are migrating to the 
cities of the North. 

247. Adaptability of the Negro. —From one important 
angle, civilization is the process of getting along with one’s en¬ 
vironment, partly by changing that environment, and partly by 
adapting one’s self to external conditions. An important char¬ 
acteristic of the Negro, not usually taken into account, is his 
adaptability. Ours is predominantly a white man’s civilization, 
and we are accustomed to think of the Negro as an individual 
who finds it more or less difficult to fit into our way of living. 
And yet one reason for believing that the Negro has a capacity 
for modern civilization is that he has survived until the present 
time. Compare the Negro in this regard with the American 
Indian, who, despite his many noble traits, has fared poorly 
under the white man’s civilization. The Indians of Cuba, for 
example, were so proud and unbending that they died out under 
the slavery which the early Spanish imposed upon them; the 
Negro, because of his teachableness and his passive strength, 
not only survived slavery, but has weathered freedom under 
very disadvantageous circumstances. 

248. Progress since the Civil War. — The Negro has made 
considerable progress since the Civil War. Many Negroes have 


208 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


become independent farmers and artisans, owning a considerable 
amount of property. Despite the backwardness of Negro schools, 
great progress has been made in the matter of decreasing Negro 
illiteracy. Whereas at the close of the Civil War some ninety 
per cent of the Negroes were illiterate, less than a third of 
' our present Negro population is illiterate. In art, literature 
and science the Negro has already made a tolerable showing. 
Altogether it is likely that an able and constructive leadership 
is being developed among the Negroes. 

249. Present economic condition. — In spite of the sub¬ 
stantial progress made since the Civil War, however, the present 
economic condition of the Negro is unsatisfactory. The great 
majority of Negroes are unskilled laborers of a shiftless dis¬ 
position. Because he is frequently neither a dependable nor an 
efficient worker, the average Negro tends to receive low wages. 
The Negro is not skilled in manufacturing or mechanical lines, 
and he is kept out of the higher trades and professions by reason 
of illiteracy and social barriers. Very often the southern Negro 
is a tenant farmer, carelessly tilling a small plot of land and 
mortgaging his crop in order to secure the bare necessities of 
life. Large families, inadequately supported, and reared under 
insanitary living conditions, are characteristic of the southern 
Negro. The failure to save money, and the inability to protect 
themselves against exploitation by unscrupulous white men, are 
characteristic weaknesses of many Negroes. 

250. Present social condition. — Though decreasing steadily, 
Negro illiteracy is still high. This is a serious evil. Not only 
does illiteracy bar the Negro from the education and training 
of which he is in such great need, but it allows unscrupulous 
persons to swindle and exploit him. The Negro furnishes an 
abnormally large proportion of our prison population. Whether 
or not this is partly the result of racial characteristics, it is 
certain that the bad economic and social conditions surrounding 
Negro life lead to a high degree of criminality. In justice to 
the Negro it should be noted that in many communities he is 
apprehended and convicted more often than is the white culprit. 
Acts which would go unpunished or even unnoticed if committed 


THE NEGRO 


209 


by white men often arouse the community and lead to severe 
punishment when committed by Negroes. Statistics on Negro 
crime are also influenced by the fact that the poverty of the 
Negro often causes him to go to jail while the white offender 
escapes with a fine. 

A serious evil is race mixture between Negroes and whites. 
This has gone on since colonial times, until at the present time 
probably more than half of the Negroes in the United States 
have some degree of white blood. Such mixtures, while probably 
not disastrous from the standpoint of biology, have unfortunate 
consequences socially. Generally the mulatto offspring are 
forced to remain members of the Negro group, where they are 
subjected to social surroundings which too often encourage 
disease, vice, and degeneracy. The majority of the states now 
have laws forbidding marriage between Negroes and whites. 
Both white and Negro leaders agree that race mixture ought 
to be stopped. 

251. Present political condition. — The Fifteenth Amend¬ 
ment declared that “the right of citizens of the United States 
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States 
or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude.” Yet in many southern states the Negro is 
barred from the polls. In many northern cities where the 
Negro is allowed the ballot, his ignorance and irresponsibility 
make him the prey of political “bosses” who control his vote. 
The question of Negro suffrage will be treated later; 1 here we 
may content ourselves with noting that the Negro’s right to 
vote is often restricted. In the South, at least, it is also true 
that the Negro has but little share either in making the laws 
or in administering them. 

252. Urgent nature of the Negro problem. — The Negro 
problem was never of more pressing importance than it is to-day. 
Illiteracy is still perilously high, Negro crime is becoming more 
serious, and the cityward tendency of the Negro is increasing 
his susceptibility to disease and vice. In spite of prohibitive 
laws, racial intermixture is continuing, and the problem of the 

1 See Chapter XXXIII. 


210 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


mixed blood is becoming more and more acute. Social unrest 
among the masses of southern Negroes is increasing. The 
World War created new aims and aspirations among thousands 
of Negroes. New leaders are arising to preach racial equality 
for the Negro; old leaders are in many cases becoming more 
impatient with the attitude of the white population. 

253. Hesitancy in attacking the problem. — The American 
people have been singularly backward about grappling with 
the problem of fitting ten million Negro citizens into the fabric 
of American democracy. One explanation of this backwardness 
is that until recently many have believed that the Negro would 
die out under freedom. This expectation has not been realized, 
for while the Negro population is increasing less rapidly than 
is the white population, it is nevertheless increasing. The 
Negro is not dying out. Nor can he be deported to Liberia or 
other colonies, as was often suggested in the last century. The 
Negro is here to stay, and his problems must be solved. 

254. Need of a consistent program.—■ Many institutions 
and individuals have attacked various phases of the Negro 
problem with courage and success, but we are in need of a 
unified and comprehensive program rather than of a series of 
unrelated endeavors. Above all what is needed is not im¬ 
passioned opinion or cure-all schemes, but rather the develop¬ 
ment of a sound and comprehensive program which shall 
attack the problem from a number of angles at the same time. 
Such a program must have a double end in view: First, the 
immediate needs of the Negro must be met; second, we must 
permit the Negro to be trained toward a position in which 
he will be able to play a useful and honorable role in our 
national life. Thus the great comprehensive purpose of this 
program is to help the Negro adapt himself to American life, 
to aid him in fitting in with our economic, social, and political 
institutions, and to encourage him to contribute to the develop¬ 
ment of American culture to the best of his ability. 

255. Education. — Education is the most important element 
of any program designed to help the Negro. Ability to read 
and write, the habit of study, training in correct thinking, all 


THE NEGRO 


211 


are of such basic value that it is difficult to understand why we 
have so long neglected the education of the Negro. We spend 
three or four times as much for the education of the white 
child per capita as for the education of the Negro child. Negro 
schools are sparsely distributed; they are poorly equipped, and 
they are sadly hampered by lack of competent teachers. Clearly 
we must spend vast sums on Negro education, if we are to 
expect marked improvement in the Negro’s social and economic 
condition. We cannot expect the Negro to cease being a prob¬ 
lem until he has been trained in the fundamentals of citizenship. 
“The inadequate provision for the education of the Negro,” 
says the Southern University Race Commission, “is more than 
an injustice to him; it is an injury to the white man. The 
South cannot realize its destiny if one third of its population 
is undeveloped and inefficient.” 

256. Economic adjustment. — The Negro cannot be expected 
to become a thrifty, responsible citizen until he is rendered 
capable of earning a decent living at productive work. He 
must acquire the habit of working steadily and efficiently under 
a system of free contract. This economic readjustment, many 
students of the Negro problem believe, will be attained largely 
through industrial education. We already have several ex¬ 
cellent industrial training schools for Negroes, including Hamp¬ 
ton and Tuskegee. The latter was made famous by Booker 
T. Washington, an ex-slave who devoted his life to the economic 
readjustment of his people. 

A great deal more must be done in this direction. In spite 
of the excellent beginnings made at Hampton and Tuskegee, 
not more than one per cent of our Negroes have the privilege 
of industrial education. More adequate instruction is needed 
in methods of agriculture and stock raising, in the various 
crafts, and in those professions for which the Negro seems 
fitted. The South needs labor badly, but she cannot use her 
millions of Negroes effectively until they are turned into com¬ 
petent and dependable workers. The Negro appears to have 
little aptitude for mechanical work, or for mill and factory 
employment. Diversified agriculture on a small scale seems 


212 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


to be the most promising industry for him, and one in which 
he ought consistently to be encouraged. 

257. The need for cooperation. — No permanent solution of 
the Negro’s difficulties can be attained without the friendly 
cooperation of all parties concerned. Most of our Negroes 
live in the South, but the Negro is no more a purely southern 
question than Japanese immigration is a purely Californian 
problem. We are one nation, and the problems of one section 
are the problems of the whole. The South must not be left 
alone, either to neglect the Negro, or to struggle with his diffi¬ 
culties as best she can. Generous aid must be extended her by 
the North, East, and West, before we can expect a solution of 
the Negro question. 

Furthermore, there must be cooperation between the leaders 
of the Negro and white races, otherwise energy will be wasted 
and inter-racial bitterness created. Very promising beginnings 
in this direction have recently been made in the South. Never¬ 
theless it is to be regretted that many leaders, both white and 
Negro, are still prone to propose “remedies” for the Negro 
problem which serve their own interests, but which show little 
or no regard for the rights of the other group, or for the welfare 
of the nation. 

Above all, there must be a firm resolve to work toward a 
fair solution, and an earnest desire to be just and humane. 
Hard and unpleasant facts cannot be argued away, but at 
least they can be treated rationally. No solution can be reached 
except through law and order. Neither violence nor deceit 
can solve this or any other problem. Race riots and lynchings 
are proof that those who engage in them are unfit to carry on 
the work of American democracy. 

258. The promise of the Negro. — There is a good deal of 
discussion as to whether or not the Negro race is merely back¬ 
ward, or whether it is an inferior race. Those contending that 
the Negro is only backward believe that ultimately he can be 
fitted into the fabric of American life; those insisting that he 
is inferior declare that all attempts to adapt the Negro to 
American life will prove unavailing. 


THE NEGRO 


213 


Academic discussions of this sort are not to the point. As to 
whether or not the Negro is backward or inferior, and as to 
precisely what each of these terms implies, there must always 
be a good deal of dispute. For practical purposes it is enpugh 
to admit that the Negro cannot now do many of the things 
which the average white man can do, and that in so far as this 
is true, the Negro is less effective as a citizen. 

At the same time, it should be frankly recognized that the 
Negro has shown himself capable of substantial progress. It 
will be more appropriate to discuss the inferiority of the Negro 
when he has failed to react to the most comprehensive, in¬ 
telligent, and consistent program which we are able to draw up. 
This we have not yet done, and until it is done, we shall have 
less cause to deny to the Negro a capacity for civilization than 
the Negro will have cause to complain of our unhelpful attitude 
toward him. So far as we now know, there is no scientific 
justification for believing that the masses of American Negroes 
cannot ultimately be trained to a useful sphere in American life. 

Questions on the Text 

1. How were Negroes first introduced into this country? 

2. When did the modern Negro problem come into existence? 

3. What proportion of our population is Negro? 

4. Where are most of our Negroes found? 

5. What is meant by saying that the Negro is adaptable? 

6. In what particulars has the Negro made substantial progress 

since the Civil War? 

7. What is the present economic condition of the Negro? 

8. Why is the social condition of the Negro unsatisfactory? 

9. What can be said as to the present political condition of the Negro? 

10. Why have we delayed the development of a comprehensive plan 

for meeting the needs of the Negro? 

11. What is the importance of Negro education? 

12. Why is the economic readjustment of the Negro important? 

13. Discuss the need for cooperation in meeting the Negro’s problems. 

14. What is the promise of the American Negro citizen? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 

vol. xlix, “The Negro’s Progress in Fifty Years,” pages 47-5S. 


214 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


3. Washington, Tuskegee and its People, chapter i. 

4. Williamson, Sociology of the American Negro, chapters xii, xvi, 

and xxvii. 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Discuss the recent decrease in Negro illiteracy. (Williamson, 

chapter xii.) 

2. What difficulty is encountered in applying mental tests to Negroes? 

(Williamson, chapter xii.) 

3. Outline the results of mental tests of the Negro. (Williamson, 

chapter xii.) 

4. Summarize the chief characteristics of the Negro race. (William¬ 

son, chapter xvi.) 

5. What Negro faults might be turned into virtues? (Williamson, 

chapter xvi.) 

6. Discuss the role of the mulatto leader. (Williamson, chapter xvi.) 

7. What is Tuskegee Institute? (Washington, page 19.) 

8. What are the chief aims of Tuskegee Institute? (Washington, 

page 21.) 

9. What was Booker T. Washington’s concept of education? (Wash¬ 

ington, pages 28-30.) 

10. What progress in Negro education has been made since 1880? 

( Annals, pages 51-52.) 

11. What four forces retard the economic development of the Negro 

in the South? ( Annals, page 55.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
11 

1. African background of the American Negro. (Williamson, Soci¬ 

ology of the American Negro, part i.) 

2. Slavery. (Hart, Social and Economic Forces in American History, 

chapter xix; Callender, Selections from the Economic History 
of the United States, pages 768-793; Williamson, Sociology of 
the American Negro, chapter v.) 

3. Gains and losses under slavery. (Williamson, Sociology of the 

American Negro, chapter xxiv.) 

4. The Negro in business. (Atlanta University Publications, No. 4.) 

5. The Negro in professional occupations. (Annals, vol. xlix, pages 

10-18.) 

6. The Negro as an unskilled laborer. Annals, vol. xlix , pages 19-28. 

7. The Negro as a skilled worker. (Atlanta University Publications, 

No. 17.) 

8. The system of Negro tenancy. (Annals, vol. xlix, pages 38-46.) 


THE NEGRO 215 

9. The Negro in the city. (Wolfe, Readings in Social Problems, 
chapter xviii; Annals, vol. xlix, pages 105-119.) 

10. The Negro family. (Atlanta University Publications, No. 13;- 

Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and America, part iii, chap¬ 
ter iii; Annals, vol. xlix, pages 147-163.) 

11. Negro organizations. ( Annals, vol. xlix, pages 129-137.) 

12. The Negro church. (Atlanta University Publications, No. 8; 

Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and America, part iii, chap¬ 
ter iii; Washington, The Story of the Negro, vol. ii, chapter xiii.) 

13. The mulatto. (Williamson, Sociology of the American Negro, 

chapters xx, xxi, and xxii.) 

14. Race relationships in the South. ( Annals, vol. xlix, pages 164-172; 

Storey, Problems of To-day, chapter iii.) 

15. Negro education. ( Annals, vol. xlix, part iv; Wolfe, Readings in 

Social Problems, pages 769-783; Washington, The Story of the 
Negro, vol. ii, chapter v; Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and 
America, part iii, chapter iv.) 

16. The work of Booker T. Washington, (Washington, Up from 

Slavery. See also an encyclopedia.) 

17. Tuskegee Institute. (Washington, Tuskegee and Us People .) 

18. The Negro’s part in the development of the South. ( Annals, 

vol. xxxv, pages 124-133; Washington, The Future of the American 
Negro.) 


CHAPTER XXIII 


THE FAMILY 

259. Significance of the family. — From whatever angle we 
approach society, the family is the ultimate unit and basis. 
The whole fabric of civilization, whether considered from an 
economic, a social, or a political standpoint, depends upon the 
integrity of the family, and upon the wholesomeness of the 
home life centering about the father, mother, and children. 
The home is the nursery of our fundamental institutions: it 
is the origin of our physical and mental inheritances; it is the 
center of our training for private and public life; it is the 
moral and religious fount which nourishes the ideals and beliefs 
which fashion our lives and mould our character. A nation 
built upon decaying homes is bound to perish; a nation com¬ 
posed of normal prosperous families is in a good way to per¬ 
petuate itself. It is of the very greatest importance, therefore, 
that we inquire into the character and tendencies of the Ameri¬ 
can family. 

260. The family in the Middle Ages. — Fully to appreciate 
the nature of the modern family we must know something of 
the family as it existed in Europe in the Middle Ages. 

Unity was the striking characteristic of the medieval family. 
Economically it was very nearly self-sufficing, that is to say, 
most of the food, clothing, and other necessities consumed by 
it were prepared by the family members. Very little in the 
way of education and recreation existed beyond the family 
circle. In religious activities the family played an important 
role, family worship under the leadership of the father being 
a common domestic function. The medieval family was stable, 
partly because legal and religious authority was concentrated in 
the hands of the father, partly because the family members 

216 


THE FAMILY 


217 


were economically interdependent, and partly because the social 
and religious interests of the family members tended to coincide. 
Divorce was uncommon, and the children generally remained 
in the home until their majority had been attained. 

261 . The family in modern times. — We have already seen 
that since the close of the Middle Ages, and especially during 
the last two centuries, important economic, social, and political 
changes have been going on in civilized society. In common 
with other social institutions, the family has been greatly 
influenced by these changes. The family which we have de¬ 
scribed as the medieval type has been either destroyed or 
greatly modified, and a new type is being developed. Prob¬ 
ably this new type of family will present substantial gains over 
the family of the Middle Ages, nevertheless the period of 
transition is fraught with danger. A great problem of American 
democracy is to aid in the social readjustment of the family. 
In order that we may be competent to aid in this readjust¬ 
ment, let us discover in what ways the family has been mod¬ 
ified by the economic, social, and political changes referred to 
above. 

262 . The Industrial Revolution and the family. — We have 
examined somewhat in detail the effect of the Industrial Rev¬ 
olution upon our economic life; it remains to be pointed out 
that the same phenomenon has profoundly affected the char¬ 
acter of our most vital social institution, the family. 

Directly or indirectly, the Industrial Revolution has affected 
family life among all classes of the population. To some ex¬ 
tent capitalism has given rise to a class of idle rich, living upon 
the proceeds of permanent investments, and resorting to ex¬ 
travagance and loose methods of living in order to occupy 
their time. This development is doubly unfortunate. In the 
first place it renders difficult the maintenance of normal homes 
among the idle rich. In the second place, the tendency of certain 
types of individuals to imitate and envy the idle rich en¬ 
courages false standards and leads to a depraved moral sense. 

To those classes which furnish the majority of our professional 
men, the complex division of labor has brought a serious danger. 


2l8 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


So great is the need of specialized training among these groups 
that marriage is often delayed until after the age of thirty. 
The individual is then in a better position to support a family, 
but often his habits are so firmly fixed that he finds it difficult 
to adapt himself to family life. 

Even more important, perhaps, have been the effects of the 
Industrial Revolution upon the masses of wage earners. Men 
earning low wages are often unable to marry, or, if they assume 
that responsibility, they are unable properly to support their 
families. In spite of the fact that capitalism has greatly in¬ 
creased our material welfare, the dependence of large numbers 
of people upon day wages increases the hazards of family life. 
Industrial accidents, occupational diseases, or the interruption 
of earnings by strikes and unemployment, — any one of these 
mishaps may work a hardship upon the wage-earner’s family. 
Poverty may induce child labor, deprive the family of proper 
food and other necessities, and retard the education of the 
children. Finally it may so emphasize the elements of strain 
and worry that parents are unable to give proper attention to 
the training of their children. 

263. The factory system and the home. — The Industrial 
Revolution has lessened the economic importance of the home. 
The typical modern family is no longer self-sufficing, but is 
dependent upon the factory system for many commodities 
formerly prepared within the home circle. Spinning, weaving, 
tailoring, shoe-making, soap-making, and other industries have 
moved out of the home and into the factory. Even the prep¬ 
aration of food is increasingly a function of agencies outside 
the home. Especially in cities there has been a steady develop¬ 
ment of restaurants, delicatessen shops, and factories engaged 
in the large-scale preparation of bread, canned soups, and other 
food products. 

There is thus less work to be done in the home than formerly; 
at the same time the development of our industrial life has 
notably increased the amount of work to be done outside the 
home. The outcome of these two complementary forces has 
been that not only the father, but often the mother and the 


THE FAMILY 


219 


half-grown children as well, have been drawn into industry. 
As the result of this development, the economic interdependence 
of the family has been destroyed, and the way has been opened 
to the disintegration of the home. Social contacts between 
family members have decreased, while the specialized character 
of the individual’s daily work has operated to break down the 
common interests which family members formerly had outside 
the home. 

264. Lack of preparation for home-making. — The factory 
system has rendered more difficult the preparation of our boys 
and girls for home-making. Where boys go out to work at an 
early age and are deprived of home training during the ado¬ 
lescent period, neither father nor mother has the opportunity 
properly to acquaint them with the nature and responsibilities 
of home-making. Girls very often are reared without adequate 
knowledge of cooking, sewing, and other household arts. This 
is due, partly to the transfer of many of the domestic functions 
to specialists beyond the home, and partly to the fact that 
where girls go into industry they spend most of their time 
outside the home. In the case of both boys and girls, the 
decreased amount of time spent in the home not only prevents 
proper training by the parents, but it stresses outside interests 
which are too often opposed to domestic ideals. Many parents 
either allow or encourage their children to acquire frivolous 
habits. As the result of all of these factors, both young men 
and young women frequently marry without having been 
properly prepared for the responsibilities of home-making. 

265. Difficulties of home-making in crowded cities. — With 
the development of manufacturing, a larger and larger propor¬ 
tion of our people have made their homes in large cities. To 
many, city life has brought increased opportunities for education 
and recreation, nevertheless it is difficult to maintain a normal 
home life in a crowded city. Urban life is highly artificial. 
Simple and wholesome amusements are less common than 
expensive and injurious forms of recreation. The noise and 
jar of city life often result in strain and jaded nerves. The 
scarcity and high cost of house room is, for many city dwellers, 


220 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


an unavoidable evil. The poor are cramped into small, un¬ 
comfortable tenements, while even the well-to-do are frequently 
found in congested apartment houses. Under such circum¬ 
stances, the home often becomes merely a lodging place. Social 
life is developed out of, rather than in, the home. For the 
children of the poor there is often no yard and no adequate 
provision for recreation. Among the rich, conditions are some¬ 
what better, though in fashionable apartment houses children 
are frequently objected to by neighboring tenants or banned 
by landlords. 

266. Economic independence of women. — Until very re¬ 
cently a married woman was economically dependent upon 
her husband. But one of the effects of the Industrial Revolution 
has been to make many women economically independent. 
Women are entering the industrial field with great rapidity, 
and their presence there is now taken as a matter of course. 
Many women now avoid marriage, partly because domestic 
interests fail to attract them, and partly because they have 
become genuinely interested in industry. Where domesticity 
is the ultimate aim, many women delay marriage because 
self-support renders them both able and desirous of retaining 
their independence for a considerable period. 

Domestic tranquillity is sometimes disturbed by the fact 
that wives were formerly self-supporting girls. In most cases 
wives are dependent upon their husbands in money matters, 
a situation which is apt to irritate women who were formerly 
self-supporting. The husband is often inclined to rate the 
generalized character of housework as being of less importance 
than his own highly specialized work. The wife’s irritation 
at this may be increased by the fact that often she, too, believes 
that her domestic duties are less dignified and less valuable 
than her former work. 

Not only has the former independence of the wife made her 
less tolerant of domestic wrongs and slights, but the realization 
that she can support herself, frequently encourages her to seek 
a divorce. The temptation to take this step is increased by 
the fact that public opinion now rarely frowns upon a divorced 


THE FAMILY 


221 


woman. This is in striking contrast to the situation two hun¬ 
dred years ago, when most divorced women were not only 
unable to support themselves, but were socially ostracized. 

267. Political emancipation of women. — Until very recently 
women have been legally and politically subordinate to men. 
As recently as a century ago women in the leading countries 
of the world were allowed neither to vote, nor to contract debts 
in their own name, nor to hold or will property. 

But within the last century women have been emancipated 
politically. Property rights have been extended them; the 
growth of the woman’s movement has resulted in the winning 
of female suffrage. Economic independence and social freedom 
have combined with political emancipation to emphasize the 
spirit of individualism among women. Politics and club work 
have, in the eyes of many wives and mothers, become more 
attractive than domestic concerns, with a resultant neglect 
of the home. Higher education for women, including a wider 
knowledge of legal matters, has acquainted women with their 
legal rights and privileges, and has made them familiar with 
the steps necessary to secure a divorce. 

268. Individualism may be exaggerated. — The American 
people are celebrated for their strongly individualistic character. 
This trait is closely related to the initiative and self-reliance 
which have helped toward our industrial success; on the other 
hand, individualism may be carried to the point of selfishness. 
It is desirable, of course, that both men and women maintain 
high standards of living, and that they cultivate their respective 
personalities. It should be noted, however, that marriage is 
often delayed or altogether avoided because of selfish ambition 
and the desire to live a care-free and self-centered life. The 
insistence which many young people place upon personal rights 
has encouraged the belief that marriage is intended for man’s 
and woman’s convenience, rather than for the building of 
normal homes and the development of community life. In 
too many marriages the contracting parties selfishly refuse 
to make the mutual concessions necessary in married life and 
so wreck their domestic happiness. 

i 


222 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


269. The divorce evil. — Family instability has been in¬ 
creased by the demoralizing influences which we have been 
discussing. A familiar symptom of family instability is the 
divorce rate. One out of every eight or nine marriages in the 
United States is dissolved by divorce. Not only do we have 
more divorces than all of the rest of the world together, but 
our divorce rate is increasing three times as fast as is our 
population. 

The value of these statistics is affected by two factors. In 
the first place, much domestic unhappiness does not express 
itself in the separation of husband and wife. Or, where such 
separation does take place, it may not be through the divorce 
court. Among the city poor, for example, desertion is four 
times as common as is divorce. Thus the divorce rate indicates 
only a share of family instability. 

The second modifying factor, however, lessens the force of 
our divorce statistics. A high divorce rate is to be interpreted 
with care. Our divorce rate is higher than that of European 
countries, but it should be remembered that in those countries 
where customs, laws, and religious beliefs are relatively con¬ 
servative, families may be held together legally in spite of the 
fact that they have ■ already disintegrated. Thus family life 
may be as unstable in a country in which the divorce rate is 
low, as in a country in which the divorce rate is high. 

270. Laxity of our divorce laws. — Although divorce may 
sometimes be necessary, it is clear that in many of the states of 
the Union divorce laws are too lax. The practice of the states 
as regards divorce is divergent: in South Carolina divorce is 
absolutely prohibited; in the remaining states there is a 
variable number of grounds upon which divorce may be secured. 
Divorces are .often rushed through the courts, partly because 
of the overworked character of the divorce tribunals, and 
partly because public opinion tolerates the lax administration 
of divorce laws. In some states divorces have been secured 
in fifteen minutes, being granted without any attempt at 
solemnity, with no adequate investigation, and with numerous 
opportunities for collusion between the parties involved. The 


THE FAMILY 


223 

effect of this laxness has been to encourage the dissolution of 
the home for trivial and improper causes. 

271. The question of stricter divorce laws. — Uniform di¬ 
vorce laws among the several states are now being agitated. 
The essential provisions of such laws may be outlined as follows: 
It is desirable to have a court of domestic relations, which shall 
carefully and wisely attempt a reconciliation of husband and 
wife before divorce proceedings are resorted to. Applicants for 
divorce should be bona fide residents of the state in which the 
suit is filed, and should be required to reside in the state two 
years before a decree of absolute divorce is granted. In some 
states at least, the number of grounds upon which divorce 
may be secured should be reduced. An adequate investigation 
should be undertaken, both in order to determine the justice 
of the suit, and to prevent collusion. The primary aim of the 
divorce laws should be to allow relief from a vicious and hope¬ 
lessly wrecked union, but at the same time to prevent the mis¬ 
use of the statutes by irresponsible and unscrupulous persons. 

272. Laxity of our marriage laws. — The fact that unwise 
marriages are an immediate cause of divorce leads back to 
the question of our marriage laws. Marriage laws often permit 
the mating of couples unfit for home-making. In some states 
the authorities are not overcareful to prevent the marriage 
of persons who are mentally defective. There is among the 
several states no agreement as to the legal age of marriage, 
and no agreement as to the relationship within which marriage 
is forbidden. Hasty unions have been encouraged by the lack 
of solemnity which characterizes civil marriage. Marriage is 
more and more a civil contract, devoid of religious sanctions 
and spiritual associations. Many consider marriage as a civil 
relation not radically different from any other contract. The 
effect of this changed attitude has been to encourage the en¬ 
actment of loose marriage laws, and the careless administration 
of sound marriage laws. 

273. The question of stricter marriage laws. — Stricter 
marriage laws are being advocated in many states. We know 
far too little about eugenics to warrant prediction as to the 


224 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


type of individuals best fitted to build normal homes, but it 
is clearly desirable to prohibit the marriage of all mental de¬ 
fectives. There are also good reasons for the restriction of the 
marriage of minors, of persons between whose ages there is 
a wide disparity, and of persons who are members of widely 
divergent races. It would probably check hasty marriages to 
increase the length of time elapsing between the issuance of 
the marriage license and the performance of the ceremony. 
If modern marriages were more distinctly upon a religious 
basis, it is likely that many persons who now rush thought¬ 
lessly into marriage would be led seriously to reflect upon the 
significance of the step. 

274. Law not the ultimate remedy for family instability. — 

The careful enactment and wise administration of sound laws 
on marriage and divorce will undoubtedly check the number 
of unhappy and unsuccessful marriages. Nevertheless, law is 
not the ultimate remedy for family instability. Unduly restrict¬ 
ive marriage laws may result in abnormal tendencies among 
certain classes of the population, while severe prohibitions upon 
divorce may prevent individuals from securing release from a 
hopelessly wrecked marriage. Divorce is only a symptom of 
deeper-lying evils. Really to remove the dangers which threaten 
the integrity of the family we must go deeper than legislation. 

275. Economic and social readjustment. — One fundamental 
method of safeguarding the family is to counteract the injurious 
effects of the Industrial Revolution. Poverty must be lessened 
or eliminated, so that men will be enabled to marry and support 
families decently. The evils of overcrowding must be attacked 
in the interest of a normal home life. Mothers’ pensions and 
social insurance are desirable methods of protecting the laborer’s 
family against the risks of industry. The prohibition of child 
labor and the safeguarding of women in industry will also tend 
to keep the family intact, and to permit proper home training. 
In short, any measures which will help individuals to adjust 
themselves to the economic and social changes of the present 
age will provide a more firm and solid foundation for a 
normal family life. 


THE FAMILY 


225 


276. Education and the family. — Far more fundamental 
than legislation on marriage and divorce is the training of young 
people toward a fuller appreciation of the responsibilities of 
home-making. In the problem of family instability, laws 
reach symptoms, while education attacks causes. By education 
is here meant not merely formal training in the school, but 
character-building of every type. This includes training in the 
home, in the school, and in the church. Only when boys and 
girls are accorded sound training by these various agencies will 
they be properly prepared to make homes. 

Our whole educational system ought to emphasize the im¬ 
portance of a pure and wholesome family life. The sanctity 
of the marriage bond, the seriousness of family responsibilities, 
and the duty to rear a normal healthy family, ought to be 
impressed upon every boy and girl. Young people should be 
taught to consider adolescence as a period of preparation for 
home-building. During this period it is the duty of the boy to 
fit himself for the proper support of a family, while the girl 
ought to feel obligated to become familiar with the tasks and 
duties of housekeeping. The choice of a husband or wife ought 
to be made, not on the basis of passing fancy, but with regard 
to a life of mutual service. Extreme individualism ought to 
be discouraged; personal pleasure ought to be interpreted in 
the light of marriage as a partnership. Above all, marriage 
should be faced with the realization that it requires adaptation 
and concessions on the part of both husband and wife. Mutual 
consideration and respect must predominate in the future 
American family, while the spirit of impatience and selfishness 
must be eliminated. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What is the significance of the family? 

2. What were the essential characteristics of the medieval family? 

3. Why is the modern family in a period of transition? 

4. Outline the effect of the Industrial Revolution upon the family. 

5. To what extent has the factory supplanted the home as an industrial 

center? 

6. Discuss the difficulties of home-making in crowded cities. 


226 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


7. How have many groups of women become economically inde¬ 

pendent? 

8. Discuss the political emancipation of women. 

9. What is the extent of divorce in this country? What two factors 

must be taken into account in interpreting these figures? 

10. To what extent are our divorce and marriage laws lax? 

11. What proposals have been made toward the correction of this 

evil? 

12. Why is law not the ultimate cure for family instability? 

13. What is the importance of economic and social readjustment in 

the problem of the family? 

14. What should be the chief aims of education with regard to prepa¬ 

ration for home-making? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter xxiii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Burch and Patterson, American Social Problems, chapter xxii. 

3. Ellwood, Sociology and Modern Social Problems, chapters v, vi, 

vii, and viii. 

4. Goodsell, The Family as a Social and Educational Institution , 

chapters xi, xii, and xiii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Discuss the origin of human marriage. (Ellwood, pages 97-108.) 

2. Distinguish between the maternal and paternal types of family. 

(Ellwood, pages 110-128.) 

3. What was the character of the early Roman family? (Ellwood, 

pages 132-138.) 

4. What influence has Christianity exerted upon the family? (Ell¬ 

wood, pages 142-144.) 

5. Summarize the ways in which industry may disintegrate the 

family. (Goodsell, pages 461-464.) 

6. What is the origin of higher education for women in this country? 

(Goodsell, pages 439-441.) 

7. Discuss the divorce rate in this country. (Ellwood, pages 148-154; 

Burch and Patterson, pages 315-321; Goodsell, pages 457-459.) 

8. Name the various grounds upon which divorce may be secured. 

(Ellwood, pages 154-157; Burch and Patterson, pages 321-322.) 

9. Why is our divorce rate increasing? (Burch and Patterson, 

pages 322-327.) 

10. What proposal has been made relative to a uniform divorce law? 
(Burch and Patterson, pages 327-328.) 


THE FAMILY 


227 


Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Interview an elderly friend for the purpose of discovering how 

many commodities now produced outside the home were made 
within the family circle a half century ago. 

2. Make a list of the advantages which the city offers over the country 

or the small town. Make another list showing wherein it is 
more difficult to maintain a normal home in the city than in 
the more sparsely settled districts of the country. 

3. The extent to which girls and women in your community are going 

into industrial pursuits. 

4. The marriage laws of your state. 

5. The divorce laws of your state. 

6. What amendments, if any, would you offer to the marriage and 

divorce laws of your state? 

II 

7. The primitive family. (Goodsell, The Family as a Social and 

Educational Institution , chapter ii.) 

8. The family in the early stages of civilization. (Burch and Patterson, 

American Social Problems , chapter vi.) 

9. Influence of Christianity upon the family. (Goodsell, The Family 

as a Social and Educational Institution , chapter vi.) 

10. The family in the Middle Ages. (Goodsell, The Family as a Social 

and Educational Institution, chapter vii.) 

11. The English family in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

(Goodsell, The Family as a Social and Educational Institution, 
chapter ix.) 

12. The family in the American colonies. (Goodsell, The Family as 

a Social and Educational Institution, chapter x.) 

13. The feminist movement. ( Annals, vol. lvi, part i.) 

14. The home in the crowded city. (Riis, *geril and Preservation of 

the Home.) 

15. Desertion. (Colcord, Broken Homes.) 

16. Divorce statistics. (Willcox, The Divorce Problem , a study in 

statistics; Lichtenberger/ Divorce, chapter v.) 

17. Uniform divorce laws. (Wolfe, Readings in Social Problems, 

chapter xv.) 

18. Education for family building. ( Annals, vol. lxvii, pages 47-53.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

19. Should Congress be granted the power, through constitutional 

amendment, to pass a Federal divorce law? 


228 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


20. Should men be required to have a minimum income before being 

granted a marriage license? 

21. Is domestic science more or less important now than it was a 

century ago? 

22. Are the chances of a successful marriage greater or less if marriage 

takes place after both parties are more than twenty-five years 
of age? 


CHAPTER XXIV 


DEPENDENCY: ITS RELIEF AND PREVENTION 

277. The medieval neighborhood. — Throughout the earlier 
part of the medieval period the majority of the common people 
of western Europe lived in small agricultural communities. 
There was little in the way of trade or travel, for the area 
comprising the village or the feudal manor was relatively 
self-sufficing. The interests of the people centered almost 
wholly about the local neighborhood into which they had been 
born, and in which they lived and died. Life was stable, and 
the daily work of the peasants entailed few hazards. When, 
because of illness or accident, individuals were temporarily 
unable to support themselves, informal aid was extended them 
by neighbors and friends. In case of a more serious dependency, 
growing out of physical or mental defect, for example, the aid 
extended by neighbors might be supplemented by help from 
the feudal lord. The few strangers in the community found 
the monasteries always open to them, regardless of the character 
of their need. 

278. Breakdown of the medieval neighborhood. — During 
the latter half of the medieval period, and during the earlier 
part of the modern period, a number of factors combined to 
break down this early type of neighborhood. The Crusades, 
the decay of feudalism, and the Renaissance disrupted the 
stable, isolated, and self-sufficing life of the medieval neighbor¬ 
hood. The discovery of America and the growth of towns 
and cities stimulated trade and travel. People moved about 
more, strangers came into the community, family contacts 
and friendships were broken, and community life became more 
impersonal. 

For many people a change of habitation or of occupation 

229 


230 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

increased the hazards of life, while the decline of the neighbor¬ 
hood spirit made informal aid by neighbors and friends less 
available. To meet the growing needs of the dependent classes, 
the Church extended and improved its system of almsgiving. 
To a greater extent than ever before the monasteries became 
havens of refuge for the helpless and friendless. The clergy 
not only themselves dispensed alms, but encouraged the wealthy 
laity to do likewise. 

Unfortunately, however, the aim of almsgiving in this period 
was not so much to help the dependent back to self-support, 
as to increase the piety of the individual dispensing the alms. 
Pauperism was looked upon as inevitable, and the moral effect 
upon the giver was generally of more importance than was 
the use that the needy made of the alms received. 

279. Rise of the urban neighborhood. — The breakdown of 
the medieval neighborhood was completed by the Industrial 
Revolution. The factory system drew large numbers of country¬ 
men to the cities. Here they worked long hours in insanitary 
work-shops, and lived in crowded tenements devoid of many 
improvements which we now regard as necessary to health and 
comfort. Home life was disrupted, and neighborhood ties were 
broken in the process of adjusting agricultural laborers to the 
factory system. The medieval neighborhood began to be sup¬ 
planted by a new type of neighborhood, one primarily urban and 
impersonal in character. This new type of neighborhood brought 
with it greater hazards for the poor, and at the same time 
offered fewer opportunitites for mutual aid between neighbors. 
Under such circumstances, the problem of dependency became 
increasingly serious. 

280. Extent of dependency in modern times. — One of the 

vital problems of American democracy is the proper care of 
those individuals who are unable, either to support themselves, 
or otherwise to protect themselves against the hazards of modern 
life. The extent to which individuals are dependent for help 
upon agencies outside their family circle is unknown. Statistics 
are meager, and the complex nature of dependency renders it 
difficult of measurement. Perhaps a reasonable estimate of de- 


DEPENDENCY: ITS RELIEF AND PREVENTION 231 

pendency in the United States is that at some time during the 
year about five per cent of the population seeks charitable 
assistance. The total amount expended annually for the care 
of the dependent classes in the United States is more than 
half a billion dollars. 

281 . Causes of dependency. — The causes of dependency 
in a modern community are difficult to analyze. Generally 
the applicant for charity is not in a state of dependency because 
of a single isolated cause, but because of a number of combined 
causes, interlocking in a most confusing way. In the effort 
to thrpw light upon this tangled situation, let us briefly survey 
the problem from the economic, social, personal, and political 
viewpoint. 

From the economic viewpoint much dependency is the result 
of maladjustments in industry. Most laborers have little or 
no savings, so that when unemployment, strikes, industrial 
accidents, or crises interrupt their earnings, they are soon 
forced to fall back upon charity. Economic causes figure in 
from fifty to eighty per cent of charity cases, either as minor 
or major factors. In the majority of these cases the unemploy¬ 
ment or other handicap of the laborer is due to industrial mal¬ 
adjustments beyond his power to control. 

Closely connected with the economic causes of dependency are 
the social causes. The crowding of. large numbers of workmen 
into cities leads to abnormal living conditions, which encourage 
ill-health, disease, and vice. Among unskilled laborers, poverty 
and the large number of children often prevent the young 
from securing a helpful amount of education. The lack of 
wholesome and inexpensive recreation, and the existence of 
costly and injurious forms of entertainment, encourage un¬ 
wise expenditure of savings, and, to that extent, may in¬ 
fluence dependency. Child labor and the employment of 
mothers in industry prevent a normal family life, and may 
be intimately associated with illiteracy, low moral standards, 
and pauperism. 

Often indistinguishable from social causes are the personal 
causes of dependency. Laziness, irresponsibility, and thrift- 


232 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

lessness figure in from ten to fifteen per cent of charity cases. 
Penniless old age is often the outcome of bad personal habits 
in youth and middle life. Idling, gambling, and other vicious 
habits are important causes of pauperism. Sickness is a factor 
in at least a third of charity cases, while disease figures in 
seventy-five per cent of such cases. Physical or mental defect 
is of great importance in dependency, often accompanying bad 
personal habits as either cause or effect. The feeble-minded, the 
epileptic, and the insane constitute a serious burden upon the 
community. 

Defects in government have in some cases either encouraged 
dependency, or have perpetuated it. In so far as we have 
neglected legislation designed to reduce the force of industrial 
maladjustments, political factors may be said markedly to 
influence dependency. Our tardiness in protecting the labor 
of women and children is certainly responsible for a share of 
dependency. Our failure to adopt a comprehensive program 
of social insurance has added to the burden upon charity. 
Housing is receiving more and more attention in our cities, 
yet the living quarters in many districts continue to be sources 
of ill-health and vice. Probably we shall eliminate a share of 
dependency when we shall have established a comprehensive 
system of state and Federal employment bureaus. The wise 
restriction of immigration is also important, as is the matter 
of vocational education for the unskilled classes. 

282. The giving of alms. — Until the period of the Refor¬ 
mation in Europe, the distribution of alms by the clergy and by 
pious laymen was the chief method of dealing with the problem 
of dependency. Then the Reformation crippled the temporal 
power of the Church, and ecclesiastical almsgiving declined 
in importance. The place formerly held by the Church was 
filled, partly by public almshouses or workhouses, and partly 
by indiscriminate and unorganized almsgiving on the part of 
kind-hearted individuals. Individuals distributed alms chiefly 
to dependents with whom they were personally acquainted, 
and whose needs could be effectively met without their being 
removed to an institution. Wandering dependents, and un- 


DEPENDENCY: ITS RELIEF AND PREVENTION 233 

fortunates whose needs were relatively serious and permanent, 
were cared for in the almshouse. This latter institution de¬ 
veloped very early in England, and appeared in colonial America 
in the seventeenth century. Until about 1850 it was often the 
only institution in American communities which cared for the 
helpless adult dependent. The almshouse, as it existed in this 
country a few decades ago, has been described as a charitable 
catch-all, into which were crowded paupers, the insane, the 
feeble-minded, the blind, the orphaned, and other types of 
dependents. 

283. Almsgiving proves inadequate. — The attempt to meet 
the problem of modern dependency solely by the giving of 
alms illustrates the difficulty of employing an ancient and 
simple method of treatment for a disease which has become 
highly complex. 

Almsgiving by individuals very often pauperizes rather 
than helps the individual to help himself. When the dominant 
aim of the almsgiver is to satisfy himself as to his piety, it 
is only by accident that the alms really help the recipient. 
Very often what is needed is not money or material aid in 
other form, but wise direction and friendly advice. There is 
still a great deal of unwise and indiscriminate almsgiving by 
individuals, but the spread of new ideals of social help is 
probably cutting down the amount. 

The almshouse, as it existed in the last century, was pro¬ 
ductive of much evil. Very often superintendents were allowed 
to run these institutions for personal profit, a practice which 
allowed the exploitation and neglect of the inmates. The 
practice of herding into this generalized institution every variety 
of dependent had great drawbacks. Specialized care and treat¬ 
ment were impossible. Disease was transmitted, and vice 
encouraged, by the failure properly to segregate various types 
of dependents. Inmates were in many cases allowed to enter 
and leave the institution at will, a privilege which encouraged 
shiftlessness and improvidence. 

284. The evolution of new ideals. — After the middle of the 
last century our attitude toward the dependent classes began 


234 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


to change rapidly. There was a gradual abandonment of 
almsgiving as the sole method of attacking dependency. Rising 
standards of conduct contributed to the development of new 
ideals, some of them now fairly well established, and some of 
them still in the formative process. The general content of 
these new ideals may be briefly described as follows: 

The primary aim of those who come in contact with the 
dependent classes should be to help those classes, rather than 
to satisfy pious aspirations or to indulge sentimental promptings. 
Rather than believing that alms are helpful because they are 
gratefully received, we should first discover what will help the 
dependent, and then train ourselves and him to take satis¬ 
faction in that which is helpful. 

Poverty is not to be taken for granted. It is neither inevit¬ 
able nor irremedial. It is a social disease which we must 
attack with the aim of destroying. 

When individuals are found in an emergency they should be 
given relief, regardless of personal merit. The extension of 
relief in case of fire, flood or other accident is only an act of 
humanity. 

A different and more productive form of help is remedial 
work. This type of work often accompanies and follows relief 
work. It is corrective, for example, the finding of employment 
for a friendless man, or the medical treatment of a sick man, 
is remedial work. 

A still higher form of social work is preventive. Hand in 
hand with the giving of work to friendless men, and the curing 
of sick men, for example, we must undertake measures which 
will prevent a recurrence of unemployment on the one hand, 
and illness on the other. Preventive work is often indirect, 
but ultimately it is the most important type of social work. 

Recently there has been a reaction against almsgiving or 
pure charity, and a distinct tendency to develop what may be 
called the concept of social service. Charity is too often con¬ 
cerned with the pauper class; social service is a wider term and 
includes not only what was formerly known as charity, but 
also child welfare, settlement work, folk dancing, and other 


DEPENDENCY: ITS RELIEF AND PREVENTION 235 

socializing activities which are helpful in a modern community, 
but which have nothing to do with alms. Charity too often 
pauperizes and degrades; social service encourages self-help 
and self-expression in the vital social relations. Formerly 
charity was almost exclusively the function of the pious and the 
sympathetic; the present tendency is for social service to become 
a distinct profession, administered by highly trained specialists. 

285. The stage of specialization. — One of the signs that we 
are recognizing the growing need of an individualized treat¬ 
ment of dependents, is the degree to which our social service 
agencies are becoming specialized. The treatment of the de¬ 
pendent may take either an institutional or a non-institutional 
form. Let us briefly notice the specialization in each of these 
forms. 

The almshouse, almost universal a century ago, is being 
rapidly displaced by a series of specialized institutions. In 
most states there are now separate institutions for the treat¬ 
ment of the pauperized, the diseased, the blind, the deaf, the 
insane, the feeble-minded, and the otherwise dependent. In¬ 
mates of these institutions are given special treatment by 
experts. When the defect has been remedied, the patient is 
released; in case remedy is impossible, the individual is seg¬ 
regated and accorded humane and sympathetic treatment 
during the rest of his life. This prevents the untold harm of 
releasing defective and irresponsible people into the community. 
Institutions of this character are largely under state control, 
and are intended primarily for individuals who cannot be 
properly treated in their homes. 

Dependents who are only slightly or temporarily handicapped, 
or who are not in need of special treatment, may be best cared 
for in their homes and by private individuals or associations. 
In this non-institutional form of social service there is also 
a high degree of specialization. The casual almsgiver has 
been succeeded by a whole series of social service agencies. 
Prisoners’ aid societies, employment bureaus, immigrant aid 
societies, flower missions, Americanization clubs, recreation 
centers, housing clubs, community nursing clubs, and scores 


236 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

of other organizations have sprung up. Every large city in 
the United States has several hundred of these organizations, 
each attacking social problems of a special type. 

286. Necessity of coordination. — Specialization in social 
service has been followed by the development of means of 
coordinating the various specialized agencies. 

That there is urgent need of such coordination has been 
repeatedly called to our attention. It is still true that often 
the institutions for the dependent classes within a single state 
pursue different methods, and so limit their separate fields 
that many types of dependents are inadequately cared for. 

Among the large number of private agencies there has been a 
great waste of time and energy. The fact that each society 
is independent of its fellows has meant that in some fields of 
social service efforts were duplicated, while other fields were 
neglected. Cases demanding treatment by several agencies 
could not be given adequate care because of the lack of correla¬ 
tion among such agencies. Beggars often imposed upon a 
number of different societies by assuming different names. 
Each society had its own periods of campaigning for funds, 
a practice which meant an excess of tag-days and campaigns 
and a waste of time and energy on the part of social workers. 

287. Coordination of public institutions. — The coordination 
of public institutions for the dependent and defective classes 
proceeded rapidly after 1880 . At present the situation in the 
various states is somewhat as follows: 

The actual administration of local institutions is generally in 
the hands of the town or county authorities. Large cities, how¬ 
ever, often have a system of institutional relief separate from 
that of the county in which they are located. In many states 
the local authorities are subject to some measure of central 
supervision by a state board, which is called by various names. 
In most cases this is merely an advisory board with power 
to inspect state institutions, and to make recommendations 
to the governor or state legislature. More recently, there is 
a tendency to go still further, and to reorganize and consolidate 
the various state institutions so as to bring them directly under 


DEPENDENCY: ITS RELIEF AND PREVENTION 237 

the control of a state board or commission. In several states 
the board is already one of control, that is to say, it has the power 
not only to inspect the various institutions of the state, but also 
the power to appoint their superintendents, and, in general, 
to administer the institutional relief of the state. 

288. Coordination of private agencies. — The movement to 
coordinate social service agencies of a private nature has been 
relatively slow and unsatisfactory. This has been due, partly to 
the large number of societies involved, and partly to the lack 
of any centralized authority to supervise such organizations. In 
some large cities there has been a considerable degree of con¬ 
solidation among societies which are purely charitable, but 
among the large number of social service organizations which 
are not purely charitable, the coordinating process has not gone 
beyond the functional stage. In this stage the various social 
service agencies of a city remain separate and distinct, but 
may become members of a council or federation which serves 
to coordinate their various functions. 1 

The aim of this functional coordination is to secure the 
greatest degree of cooperation possible without the actual amal¬ 
gamation of the cooperating agencies. Imposition by beggars 
is unlikely, because a clearing house of information keeps the 
various agencies informed as to the work of one another. By 
periodic reference to a centralized system of card indices, 
different societies may keep informed to what types of social 
work are being duplicated, and as to which lines of effort are 
being neglected. Where the social service agencies of a city 
are thus coordinated, an applicant applies to the central agency 
and is then directed to the organization best suited to meet 
his needs. Such coordinating agencies stress the necessity of 
scientific work which will aid in the adjustment of personal 
relations and help secure the maximum of result with the 
minimum of expenditure. 

289. The neighborhood of the future. — The small, stable, 
and relatively unprogressive neighborhood of the early European 

1 In this functional coordination the “ consolidated” or “united” 
.harities of the city generally appear as a single organization. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


238 

period has disappeared before the important economic, social, 
and political changes of the last five centuries. The typical 
neighborhood of modern times is larger, more inclined to be 
made up of transient and dissimilar types of people, and more 
impersonal. It is more progressive, but more likely to hold 
hazards for the average individual. The whole period since 
the Industrial Revolution has been one of neighborhood re¬ 
adjustment, of which many aspects of the problems of crime, the 
family, and dependency are phases. The new type of neighbor¬ 
hood has probably come to stay, but there are indications 
that life in the community of the future will prove less and 
less hazardous. The development of professional social service, 
growing out of the charity movement, but now embracing 
community work of every kind, will probably lessen the evils 
of the modern neighborhood, and retain its desirable features. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Describe the character of the medieval neighborhood. 

2. What factors contributed to the breakdown of the medieval 

neighborhood? 

3. What effect did the Industrial Revolution have upon the neigh¬ 

borhood? 

4. What is the extent of dependency in modern times? 

5. What are the economic causes of dependency? 

6. What are the social causes of dependency? 

7. What are the personal causes of dependency? 

8. How may defects in government contribute to dependency? 

9. Discuss the giving of alms in early Europe. 

10. Why is almsgiving inadequate as a method of treating dependency? 

11. Outline the new ideals which recently have begun to influence 

the treatment of the dependent. 

12. What is the nature of social service? 

13. Discuss specialization in social service. 

14. Why is coordination a necessary step when social service agencies 

have become highly specialized? 

15. What may be said as to the character of the neighborhood of 

the future? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxiv. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Devine, Misery and its Causes, chapter v. 


io 


DEPENDENCY: ITS RELIEF AND PREVENTION 239 

3. Devine, Principles of Relief, chapter ii. 

4. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xiv. 

5. Warner, American Charities, revised edition, chapters iii and xxii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Why is it difficult to classify the causes of poverty? (Devine, 

Misery and its Causes, pages 167-169.) 

2. What are the objective ^causes of dependency? (Warner, page 41.) 

3. What are the subjective causes of dependency? (Warner, page 42). 

4. What is the Charity Organization Society? (Warner, page 450.) 

. Why did the Charity Organization Society arise? (Warner, page 451.) 

. Where did the first society of this type arise? (Warner, page 451.) 

7. Discuss the methods of the Charity Organization Society. (Warner, 

page 458.) 

8. What is the nature of the machinery employed by the Charity 

Organization Society? (Warner, page 458.) 

9. What are the essentials of a sound relief policy? (Devine, Prin¬ 

ciples of Relief , page 13.) 

10. Under what circumstances should charitable aid be refused? 

(Devine, Principles of Relief, page 21.) 

11. What is meant by the term “medical charities”? (Guitteau, 

page 154.) 

12. What is the great aim of social service? (Devine, Misery and 

its Causes, page 235.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Make a study of your neighborhood with regard to some or all 

of the following points: 

(a) Increase in population 

( b ) Changes in the racial type of the population 

( c ) Changes in the occupational tendencies of the population 

( d ) Changes in the spirit of neighborliness 

(e ) Changes in the administration of relief to dependents. 

2. Study the causes of dependency in your community with regard 

to the influence of economic, social, personal and political factors. 
(For this information, interview local social workers.) 

3. Study an actual charity case, and make a diagram or sketch showing 

the number of factors involved. 

4. Make a visit to an almshouse (sometimes called the poorhouse), 

and report to the class upon conditions there. 

5. List and classify the types of institutions which care for dependents 

in your state. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


240 

6 . The extent to which institutions for the dependent have been 

coordinated in your state. 

7. Classify the agencies which are performing some type of pro¬ 

fessional social service in your community. 

8. Interview a local social worker with regard to his or her ideals 

of social service. (Compare the result with the ideals set forth 
in Section 284 of this chapter.) 

11 

9. The personal causes of degeneration. (Warner, American Charities, 

chapter iv.) 

10. The social causes of degeneration. (Warner, American Charities, 

chapter vi.) 

11. Desertion. (Devine, Principles of Relief, chapter xi.) 

12. Dependent children. (Devine, Principles of Relief, chapter ix; 

Warner, American Charities, chapter xii.) 

13. Relief in the home. (Devine, Principles of Relief, chapter vi.) 

14. Relief in disasters. (Devine, Principles of Relief, part iv.) 

15. Beggars and impostors. (Conyngton, Howto Help, chapter ix.) 

16. Volunteer work in charitable relief. (Devine, The Practice of 

Charity, chapter vi.) 

17. The social settlement. (Conyngton, How to Help, chapter xxvi.) 

18. The insane and the feeble-minded. (Warner, American Charities, 

chapters xiv and xv.) 

19. Medical charities. (Cabot, Social Work; Henderson, Introduction 

to the Study of the Dependent, Defective and Delinquent Classes, 
part ii, chapter viii.) 

20. Organization of charity in England. (Henderson, Introduction to 

the Study of the Dependent, etc., chapter iv.) 

21. Organization of charity in France. (Henderson, Introduction to 

the Study of the Dependent, etc., chapter ix.) 

22. Organization of charity in Holland. (Henderson, Introduction to 

the Study of the Dependent, etc., chapter v..) 

23. Organization of charity in Germany. (Henderson, Introduction 

to the Study of the Dependent, ett:., chapter 1.) 

24. The spirit of social work. (Devine, The Spirit of Social Work.) 

25. Tendencies in social service. (Warner, American Charities, chap¬ 

ter xxiii.) 

' * 

For Classroom Discussion 

26. To what extent is the number of inmates in institutions for the 

dependent classes an accurate guide to the extent of dependency 
throughout the state or nation? 


DEPENDENCY: ITS RELIEF AND PREVENTION 241 


27. Should all institutions for the dependent classes be placed under 

the direct control of the state authorities? 

28. Should the state authorities attempt to administer relief to de¬ 

pendents who remain in their homes? 

29. Should the giving of alms by individuals be abandoned in favor of 

the practice of treating dependency entirely through profes¬ 
sional or official agencies? 

30. What should we do when street beggars ask us for money? 


CHAPTER XXV 


RURAL LIFE 

290 . The significance of rural life. — Agriculture is our 
oldest and most basic industry. Almost half of our people 
are found in the rural districts, most of them subsisting directly 
upon the products of farm, forest, and range. Directly or 
indirectly our cities are largely dependent upon the country. 
The foodstuffs consumed in cities, as well as the vast quantities 
of raw materials used by our manufacturing industries, come 
largely from the rural districts. To some extent even our 
urban population is recruited from the ranks of the country 
folk. Altogether, American rural life is a matter of vital concern 
to the nation. “Our civilization rests at bottom,” Theodore 
Roosevelt once said, “upon the wholesomeness, the attractive¬ 
ness, and the completeness, as well as the prosperity, of life 
in the country.” 

291 . Nature of the rural problem. — Contrary to popular 
belief, the rural problem arises not so much from the actual 
degeneration of rural society, as from the fact that many rural 
districts have failed to progress as rapidly as have urban com¬ 
munities. Compared with his predecessqr of a century ago, 
the farmer of to-day is better fed, better clothed and housed, 
and better able to secure adequate education and recreation. 
At the same time the relatively greater advances which urban 
communities have made in economic and social activities 
render the improvement of rural life highly desirable. The 
specific problem of rural life is to develop in the country eco¬ 
nomic and social institutions which are especially adapted to 
the farmer’s needs. Not until this is done shall we be able 
to maintain on our farms a class of people who can make the 
maximum contribution to American life in all of its phases. 

242 


RURAL LIFE 


243 


292 . The rural problem is of recent origin. — The most 
spectacular development in American economic life has been 
the introduction and growth of the factory system. Commerce 
and manufactures were important during even the colonial 
period, and during the first half century of our national history 
our dominant economic interest was the fostering of manufac¬ 
turing, domestic trade, and transportation. With the de¬ 
velopment of manufacturing came the growth of the cities, 
and with the growth of the cities added attention was called 
to immigration, crime, health, and related social problems. 
Farm life, so familiar and apparently so healthful, was not 
thought of as constituting a national problem until late in the 
nineteenth century. 

293 . The cityward drift. — A half century ago more than 
three fourths of our population was rural; to-day less than 
half of the people of the United States live in the country. 
Both urban and rural districts have been steadily increasing 
in population since the opening of the nineteenth century, 
but since 1900 the city population has increased three times 
as fast as has the rural population. One reason for this more 
rapid growth of the cities is that since the eighties the majority 
of our immigrants have flocked to the cities rather than to 
the rural districts. Another reason, however, is that the country 
people have been drifting to the towns and cities. This city¬ 
ward drift has an important bearing upon the character of 
rural life. 

294 . Reasons for the cityward drift. — A number of factors 
explain the tendency of rural people to move to the cities. 
The perfection and wider use of farm machinery have decreased 
the need for farm laborers, and the excess laborers have gone 
to the towns and cities. The fact that urban industries offer 
shorter hours, better pay, and cleaner work than does farming 
has attracted many young country people. The isolation of 
farm life and its frequent lack of comforts have impelled many 
qountry dwellers to move to the cities. Some country people 
have gone to the city in order to be near schools and churches, 
and in order to have access to competent doctors and well- 


244 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


equipped hospitals. The craving for a more fully developed 
social life than many rural districts afford, has been an additional 
cause of the cityward drift. Unfortunately, the glamour of 
urban life, with its spectacles and its artificial pleasures, has 
also been a factor in the movement away from the country. 

295 . Wherein the cityward drift is desirable. — In some 
respects the cityward drift is a desirable development. When 
laborers who are no longer needed on the farms move cityward, 
the cityward drift may have the beneficial effect of removing 
such laborers to where they can find employment. It should 
also be remembered that successful rural life requires qualities 
which may be lacking in many individuals born and raised in 
the country. In so far as the cityward drift is composed of 
such individuals, it may be a helpful movement, since indi¬ 
viduals unsuited to rural life may find themselves adapted 
to some type of urban life. When unneeded and unhelpful 
individuals are removed from the country, the rural pop¬ 
ulation may be more efficient and'more prosperous, even though 
relatively more sparse. 

296 . Wherein the cityward drift is undesirable.—In so far 

as the cityward drift brings to the city individuals unsuited to 
urban conditions, the movement away from the country may 
be undesirable. It is certainly undesirable when the individuals 
in question are really suited to rural life. The tendency of 
young people to move to the cities may ultimately deprive 
the country of its natural leaders. Certainly the colleges and 
factories of the cities often drain the country of its most able 
and ambitious boys and girls. The cityward migration of such 
persons may strengthen the urban population, but it weakens 
rural society and retards the progress of rural institutions. 

297 . Status of the “back to the land” movement. — Some 
reformers have sought to offset the cityward drift by an artificial 
“back to the land” movement. In so far as it would bring to 
the country persons really able to contribute to rural life, this 
movement is a desirable one. In so far as it would bring to 
the country persons unprepared or unable to adapt themselves 
to rural conditions, such a movement is injurious. On the basis 


RURAL LIFE 


245 


of the data now available, we are warranted in concluding that 
the “back to the land” movement is founded upon sentiment 
and caprice rather than upon sound principles. It attacks the 
rural problem at the wrong end. If the natural leaders of the 
country are repelled by rural life and attracted by urban con¬ 
ditions, the remedy is not to create an artificial movement 
toward the country, but rather to make rural life so attractive 
that country boys and girls will prefer it to city life. The 
chief question before us is this: How can the country be made 
so attractive that individuals interested in, and suited to, 
rural life may be encouraged to lend themselves to its fullest 
development? Let us see what is being done toward answering 
this question. 

298 . How the Federal Government is helping to make rural 
life attractive. —The material prosperity of the American farmer 
is due, in considerable part, to the activities of the Federal 
government. For more than a half century the Department of 
Agriculture has systematically encouraged various phases of 
agricultural industry. The Department conducts investiga¬ 
tions and experiments designed to give farmers helpful infor¬ 
mation concerning soils, grains, fruits, and live stock. It dis¬ 
tributes seeds gratuitously, and attempts to encourage scientific 
methods among farmers. The Department issues a Year-book, 
a Monthly Weather Review, a Crop Reporter, and a series of 
Farmers’ Bulletins. Among the more important subdivisions 
of the department are the bureau of animal industry, the 
bureau of soils, the bureau of markets, and the office of farm 
management. The work of the Department of Agriculture is 
ably supplemented by the work of the Reclamation Bureau, 
which, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, 
is increasing the productivity of waste and arid lands. 

299 . The Federal Farm Loan Act. — The growing need of 
credit facilities among farmers resulted in 1916 in the passage 
of the Federal Farm Loan Act. By the terms of this act, the 
United States is divided into twelve districts, in each of which 
a Federal land bank is established. A Federal Farm Loan 
Board has general charge of the entire system, but each Farm 


246 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Loan Bank is allowed a large measure of freedom in its own 
district in the organization of local Farm Loan Associations. 
A local association is made up of a number of farm owners, 
or persons about to become owners, who desire to borrow 
money. The Bank will not deal with the individual farmer 
except through the local association, but when a farmer has 
been vouched for by this association, he may receive from the 
Bank of his district a loan at not more than six per cent interest. 
The Bank authorizes loans for the purchase or improvement of 
land, for the purchase of live stock, and for the erection of 
farm buildings. Loans must be secured by first mortgages 
not exceeding in amount fifty per cent of the assessed value 
of the land and twenty per cent of the value of the improve¬ 
ments thereon pledged as security. Loans may run from five 
to forty years, and provision is made for the gradual payment, 
in small sums, of both principal and interest. 

300. Marketing needs of the farmer. — A problem vitally af¬ 
fecting not only the farmer but the urban consumer as well, has 
to do with the marketing of farm produce. The price of farm 
produce often doubles or trebles between the farm and the urban 
kitchen. This is largely because of a cumbersome marketing sys¬ 
tem and an overabundance of middlemen. Often the farmer 
gets entirely too little for his produce, while the city housewife 
pays too much for it. If the farmer is to secure a larger return 
for his labor, and if the cost of foodstuffs in cities is to be re¬ 
duced, we must devise more efficient methods of marketing 
farm produce. 

There is a general agreement among experts that in the 
marketing of farm produce there ought to be some method 
of securing the cooperation of farmer, urban consumer, and 
government. The further improvement of country roads, 
together with the development of trolleys, motor trucking 
and other means of farm-to-city transport would reduce haulage 
charges. The number of public markets in cities should be 
increased, so that farm produce might be sold to consumers 
without the interference of unnecessary middlemen. The 
grading and standardization of farm products would also 


RURAL LIFE 


247 


facilitate sale by making it unnecessary for prospective pur¬ 
chasers minutely to examine goods offered by the farmers. 
In some cases farmers might advantageously sell their produce 
directly to urban consumers. The cooperative marketing of 
farm produce, also has the effect of reducing the number of 
middlemen. 1 

One of the most important phases of marketing reform is 
the regulation of commission dealers. Many farmers commonly 
ship their produce to commission dealers in the city. These 
dealers are supposed to sell this produce and to return to the 
farmer the money thus secured, minus a small commission. In 
many instances these middlemen return to the farmer smaller 
sums than market conditions entitle the farmer to. At the 
same time, commission dealers often add an excessive amount 
to the price which they in turn ask of retailers and consumers. 
In a few states commission dealers handling farm produce 
must now be licensed. They are obliged to keep records which 
will enable an inspector to tell whether or not they have made 
false returns to farmers concerning the condition of goods on 
arrival, the time at which sold, and the price secured. A 
dealer convicted of dishonest methods loses his license. The 
future should see an extension of this licensing system. 

301. Other economic needs of the farmer. — The economic 
position of the farmer has been materially strengthened within 
the last forty years, yet much remains to be done before farm¬ 
ing may be considered an altogether satisfactory and attractive 
occupation. Tenancy in rural districts needs to be studied 
carefully. Tenancy is not necessarily an evil, especially where 
it is a step toward ownership, but its rapid increase in this 
country has caused many serious problems to arise. From 
both the economic and the social point of view it is desirable 
that farmers own their land. Tenants have no permanent 
interest in the upkeep of the farm or in the rural community. 
Where tenancy is widespread, land and buildings deteriorate, 
and the development of rural institutions is slow. 

Machinery is shortening the hours of labor for the farmer, 
1 See Chapter XII, Section 116. 


248 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


and scientific farming is increasing his efficiency; nevertheless, 
in most sections of the country rural life still means long hours 
of hard labor for small returns. Many farmers still work ten 
hours a day in winter, twelve in summer, and from thirteen to 
fifteen in the harvest season. Despite this sustained effort, 
the perishable character of his product, the uncertainty of 
weather conditions, and his dependence upon commission 
dealers, too often jeopardize the returns to the farmer. 

302. Rural health. — We have noticed that in some cases 
people have moved to the city because in the country doctors 
tend to be both scarce and poorly trained, while frequently 
hospitals are inaccessible. 

Recently a number of influences are counteracting this 
relative backwardness. The isolation of the rural dweller is 
disappearing before the automobile and the telephone. In 
many sections able doctors are increasingly plentiful. In most 
rural districts which are near large cities, there is now an 
efficient system of visiting nurses, free clinics, and health 
bulletins. Health campaigns are spreading the fundamental 
principles of sanitation into many of the outlying districts also. 

But these measures, while helpful, are only a beginning. 
In the more isolated rural sections especially, ignorance of 
sanitary methods is still a serious evil. Many rural dwellers 
still rely upon traditional but ineffective remedies for common 
complaints. Quacks having nostrums and injurious patent 
medicines to sell often prey upon rural communities in which 
there is no adequate provision for doctors, nurses, and hospitals. 
Rural diet is often so heavy as to encourage stomach disorders. 
Farmhouses are in many cases poorly ventilated in summer 
and overheated in winter. Stables and stock pens are invariably 
so close to the farmhouse as to render difficult the protection 
of the dwelling against flies and mosquitoes. 

303. The rural school. — The chief educational institution 
in rural districts has long been the small district school, inade¬ 
quately supported and often inefficiently conducted. 

But recently rural education has shown many signs of im¬ 
provement. In most sections of the country the development 


RURAL LIFE 


249 


of farm machinery has so reduced the amount of manual labor 
on the farm that rural children are enabled to remain in school 
for a longer period than formerly. The district school is in 
many cases being supplanted by the consolidated school. Under 
the consolidation plan, a single large and well-equipped school- 
house takes the place of a number of separate, small schools, 
indifferently equipped. When consolidation is accompanied by 
improved means of transporting children to school, the ad¬ 
vantages of the plan are numerous. Because consolidation 
is a more economical arrangement than the old district plan, 
it allows larger salaries to be offered. This in turn allows the 
rural school to secure a higher grade of teacher. The trained 
educator is also attracted by the fact that the consolidation 
of rural schools allows curricula to be standardized and enlarged. 
Scientific agriculture and allied subjects are slowly finding their 
way into the rural grade school. The rural high school is 
beginning to appear. 

In some sections of the country, on the other hand, the 
rural school is still in an unsatisfactory condition. In a number 
of states the rural school needs a more intelligent and con¬ 
sistent support from the taxpayers, in order that better teachers, 
more and better schoolhouses, and better working equipment 
may be provided. In many sections of the country there is 
very little understanding of the advantages of school consoli¬ 
dation and the necessity of more adequate rural education. 
It is desirable that rural schools be more closely correlated with 
the admirable work being done by experiment stations and 
agricultural colleges. The agricultural press might well co¬ 
operate with the rural schools in attacking the problems of 
country life. Without doubt the rural school curriculum should 
place more emphasis upon practical agriculture and other sub¬ 
jects which will demonstrate the dignity and attractiveness of 
rural life. Finally, it is desirable that an increasing use be made 
of the schoolhouse as a social center. 

304. The rural church. — The rural church, though an older 
institution than the rural school, is advancing less rapidly. 
In many sections the cityward drift has drained the able min- 


250 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


isters to the city, leaving inferior men to carry on the work 
of the rural church. Other rural sections have never had the 
benefit of an able clergy. In every part of the country it often 
happens that country ministers are not only inadequately 
trained, but are uninterested in rural problems. 

One of the greatest needs of the American farming com¬ 
munity, therefore, is for a vitalized church. In many places 
rural districts are overchurched, and there is great need of 
some such consolidation as has been developed among rural 
schools. This development would so decrease the number of 
ministers needed that higher salaries could be offered. This, 
in turn, would attract more highly trained ministers to the 
country. It is also desirable that rural ministers be trained to 
a keener appreciation of the economic and social problems of 
the country, with a view to making religion a practical help 
in solving the problems of everyday life. An efficient and vital¬ 
ized church could advantageously be used as a focal point for 
the development of every phase of rural community life. 

305. Isolation the menace of rural life. — Isolation may be 
said to be the menace of rural life, as congestion is the menace 
of urban life. In many out-of-the-way rural districts isolation 
has resulted in moral inertia and intellectual dullness. Isolation 
has weighed particularly hard upon the farmer’s wife. Often 
she is called upon, not only to rear a large family, but to cook 
and keep house for hired men, raise poultry and garden stuff, 
and even to help in the fields during the harvest season. In 
spite of this deadening routine, she has had fewer chances 
than the farmer to go to town, to meet people, or otherwise 
to secure a share of social life. 

306. Community spirit in the country. — In view of the 
injurious effects of rural isolation, it is encouraging to note 
the beginnings of a genuine community spirit in country dis¬ 
tricts. To a considerable extent this development is the result 
of improved means of transportation and communication. The 
coming of the automobile, the telephone, and the trolley, the 
development of the rural free delivery, the parcel post, and 
the agricultural press, — all these factors have been important. 


RURAL LIFE 


251 


The farmer has been enabled to share more and more in the 
benefits of city life without leaving the farm. Even more im¬ 
portant, perhaps, improved methods of transportation and 
communication have stimulated social intercourse among far¬ 
mers. Cooperation in church and school work has been en¬ 
couraged. Clubs and community centers are more practicable 
where farmers make use of the automobile and the telephone. 
The fair and the festival are also proving to be admirable 
methods of developing the cooperative spirit in rural life. 

The growing realization among students of rural life that a 
strong and constructive community spirit is not only desirable 
but possible, is encouraging an interest in rural problems. The 
development of such a spirit must ultimately stimulate a 
healthy social life in the country, with a resultant increase in 
health and prosperity, not only for the farmer but for the 
nation as a whole. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is the significance of rural life? 

2. What is the nature of the rural problem? 

3. Why is the rural problem of recent origin? 

4. What is meant by the cityward drift? 

5. To what extent is this drift desirable? To what extent is it un¬ 

desirable? 

6. What can be said as to the “back to the land” movement? 

7. How does the Department of Agriculture help the farmer? 

8. What is the object of the Federal Farm Loan Act? 

9. Why is the marketing of farm products a problem? 

10. What are some suggestions for solving this problem? 

11. Discuss the recent improvement in rural health. 

12. In what way is rural health still in an unsatisfactory condition? 

13. What is the purpose of consolidating the rural schools? 

14. What can be said as to the condition of the rural church? 

15. What is the effect of isolation upon farm life? 

16. What has been the effect of improved means of transportation 

and communication upon community spirit in rural districts? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter xxv. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Butterfield, The Farmer and the New Day, chapter iii. 


252 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


3. Cainey, Country Life and the Country School, chapter i. 

4. Carver, Rural Economics, chapter vi. 

5. Ely, Principles of Economics, chapter xxxix. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. In what way is the rural problem threefold? (Butterfield, pages 

30-31-) 

2. What changes have taken place since 1850 with regard to the size 

of American farms? (Ely, pages 596-603.) 

3. What problem arises in connection with the control of land in 

this country? (Butterfield, pages 40-41.) 

4. Is absentee landlordism a danger in American rural life? (Ely, 

page 605.) 

5. How could farm management in this country be improved? (But¬ 

terfield, pages 42-45.) 

6. Discuss cooperation among Danish farmers. (Carver, pages 

357 - 358 -) 

7. Discuss agricultural credit in Europe. (Ely, pages 611-613.) 

8. In what way is rural local government a problem? (Butterfield, 

page 47.) 

9. Name an important defect of the rural church. (Carver, pages 

343 - 344 -) 

10. What are the chief organizations which are aiding in the recon¬ 

struction of the rural community? (Carney, page 13.) 

11. What is the importance of community building in the country? 

(Carney, pages 9-10.) 

12. What is the importance of federating all of the social organizations 

of a rural community? (Carney, page 16.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Nature of the cityward drift in your section. 

2. Extent to which there is a “back to the land” movement in your 

section. 

3. Work of the Federal Farm Loan Bank of your district. If possible, 

interview a farmer as to the advantages and disadvantages of 
the Federal Farm Loan system. 

4. Work of the agricultural college in your state. 

5. Use of the automobile by farmers in your locality. 

6. Food markets in your neighborhood. 

7 . Draw up a program for reducing the cost of food distribution in 

your section. (Consult King, Lower Living Costs in Cities, 
chapter xiii.) 


RURAL LIFE 


253 


ii 

8. * Transportation in rural districts. (Vogt, Introduction to Rural 

Sociology, chapter iv; Gillette, Constructive Rural Sociology, 
chapter ix; Waugh, Rural Improvement, chapter iii.) 

9. The marketing of farm products. (Weld, The Marketing of Farm 

Products; Annals, vol. xlviii, pages 91-238; King, Lower Living 
Costs in Cities, chapter x; Harris, Cooperation, the Hope of 
the Consumer, chapterAii.) 

10. Tenancy. ( Annals , vol. xl, pages 29-40; Vogt, Introduction to 

Rural Sociology, chapter v.) 

11. Rural hygiene. (Ogden, Rural Hygiene; Gillette, Constructive 

Rural Sociology, chapter xi; Vogt, Introduction to Rural Soci¬ 
ology, chapters vii and viii.) 

12. Immigrant communities in the country. ( Annals, vol. xl, pages 

69-80.) 

13. Rural housing. {Annals, vol. li, pages 110-116; Waugh, Rural 

Improvement, chapter x.) 

14. The country town. (Anderson, The Country Town.) 

15. The rural school. (Bailey, The Training of Farmers, pages 173- 

194; Vogt, Introduction to Rural Sociology, chapter xv-; Galpin, 
Rural Life, chapter vii; King, Education for Social Efficiency, 
chapters iii and iv; Butterfield, The Farmer and the New Day, 
chapter vii.) 

16. The country church. (Butterfield, The Country Church and the 

Rural Problem; Gill and Pinchot, The Country Church; Carney, 
Country Life and the Country School, chapter iii; Gillette, Con¬ 
structive Rural Sociology, chapter xv; Vogt, Introduction to Rural 
Sociology, chapters xvii and xviii; Galpin, Rural Life, chapter 
xi; Annals, vol. xl, pages 131-139.) 

17. The Grange. (Carney, Country Life and the Country School, 

chapter iv.) 

18. The farmer in politics. (Vogt, Introduction to Rural Sociology, 

chapter xii.) 

19. Clubs and organizations in rural districts. (Gillette, Construc¬ 

tive Rural Sociology, chapter xiii; Waugh, Rural Improvement, 
chapter v; Galpin, Rural Life, chapters viii, x; Vogt, Intro¬ 
duction to Rural Sociology, chapter xiv; Annals, vol. xl, pages 
175-190.) 

20. The Country Life movement. (Bailey, The Country Life Move¬ 

ment in the United States; Carney, Country Life and the Country 
School, chapter xiii; Gillette, Constructive Rural Sociology, chap¬ 
ter viii.) 


254 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


For Classroom Discussion 

21 . The relative advantages of life in the city and life in the country. 

22 . Should immigrants be encouraged to settle in rural districts? 

23 . Advantages and disadvantages of tenancy from the standpoint of 

the rural community. 

24 . To what extent should country people copy the social institutions 

of the city rather than develop institutions of their own? 



CHAPTER XXVI 


EDUCATION 

307 . The meaning of education. — A half century ago 
education might have been defined as the process of acquiring 
certain types of book knowledge which contributed to the culture 
of the individual. More recently the concept of education 
has been broadened and deepened. Present-day education aims 
not only to add to the culture of the individual, but to vitalize 
the community as well. Education is no longer limited to the 
schoolroom, but includes all agencies and activities which 
in any way help toward a fuller and more responsible citizen¬ 
ship. Education is no longer confined to infancy and youth, 
but is a life-long process. Our educational system no longer 
assumes that the needs and capacities of all pupils are similar, 
but attempts so to diversify training that each individual will 
be enabled to develop his peculiar powers and to contribute 
to American life in the manner best suited to his individual 
ability. Taken in its widest sense, education has seven 
great objectives. These are health, command of fundamental 
processes (such as reading, writing, and arithmetic), worthy 
home-membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure, 
and ethical character. 1 

308 . Education and democracy. — Two centuries ago the 
education of the masses was politically a matter of small concern, 
for most governments were conducted by a narrowly restricted 
class. But in a democracy education is fundamental. The 
idea that the masses should govern themselves is an appealing 
one, but before self-government is safe a comprehensive ed¬ 
ucational system must have made substantial inroads upon 

1 These objectives have been formulated by the National Commission 
on the Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

255 


256 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


illiteracy and ignorance. Not only must the citizen of a de¬ 
mocracy be individually capable, but his capacity to cooperate 
with his fellows must be large. Under an undemocratic govern¬ 
ment the people rely upon their rulers; in a democracy they 
must rely upon their own joint efforts. From both an individual 
and a social standpoint, therefore, democracy demands more of 
its educational system than does any other form of government. 

309. Development of education in the United States. — 
Education was an important concern in most of the American 
colonies, and especially so in New England. After 1800 the 
common school system was extended rapidly, the district school 
passing westward with the pioneer movement. Educational 
facilities continued to expand and to diversify until at the end 
of the Civil War period there were more than seven million 
children in the elementary school^ of this country. The period 
following the Civil War also saw the beginnings of the 
high school, a characteristic American educational institu¬ 
tion which arose to take the place of the older Latin 
grammar schools and the private academies. Normal schools 
for the training of teachers, and colleges and universities 
for higher education, developed rapidly after 1880. To-day 
there are more than three quarters of a million teachers in 
the United States, instructing more than 25,000,000 students 
in institutions ranging from kindergarten and elementary 
schools to colleges and universities. 

310. Merits of our educational system. — The merits of our 
educational system are of great significance. We are definitely 
committed to the ideal of an educated citizenry. It has been 
the policy of the several states to establish and maintain free 
public schools. School attendance is compulsory, on full or 
part time, for children up to a certain age, the age varying 
from state to state. No public school is sectarian, the free¬ 
dom of religious thought and action guaranteed by the Federal 
Constitution having been continued into our public school 
system. The public schools stimulate democratic tendencies 
by bringing together large masses of children from all walks 
of life. Our school system likewise has an Americanizing in- 


EDUCATION 


257 


ftuence upon a large number of foreigners because their chil¬ 
dren study in our public schools and then carry into their 
homes the influence of the school. Within the last quarter of 
a century our schools have greatly extended their functions, 
becoming, in many cases, genuine community centers. 

311. Financing the schools. — The substantial advances 
made in American education during the last century are a 
cause for congratulation. At the same time, our standards 
of education are rising so rapidly that a number of educational 
problems are becoming acute. 

An important problem has to do with the financial support 
of our rapidly expanding school system. In many states the 
schools are inadequately supported by the tax payers. In 
some of these states the public schools are not readily accessible 
to large numbers of children, while in the schools that are 
accessible the equipment is often inadequate to the demands 
made upon it. In many states teachers still receive insufficient 
salaries. 

Our schools ought not to suffer from lack of funds. Ours is 
the richest country in the world, and our school system is one 
of the most vital and fundamental of our institutions. Often 
the failure of taxpayers properly to support the schools is due 
to either or both of the following causes: First, failure to ap¬ 
preciate the importance of education; second, the lack of 
accessible wealth as a basis of taxation. The first objection 
must be met by so perfecting our educational system that 
taxpayers will be convinced that money invested in schools 
means large profits in the form of a more efficient and pros¬ 
perous citizenship. The second objection calls for the reform 
of our taxation system. 

312. Control of education in the United States. — In the 

United States education is a state rather than a national func¬ 
tion. There is no Federal administration of schools, each state 
having its independent system. Each state has a system of 
elementary education, and nearly every state has a secondary or 
high school system. Nearly all of the states also have state uni¬ 
versities in which instruction is either free or is available at a 


258 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


nominal charge. The public schools are supported chiefly by 
local taxes and are controlled mainly by the local authorities. 
In most states local outlays are supplemented, to a greater or 
less degree, by state contributions. State support is almost 
always accompanied by a measure of state control, though 
the extent of this control varies widely among the several 
states. 

313. The question of uniform standards. — To what extent 
should there be uniformity within our school system? We 
have no national system of education, and the lack of coordina¬ 
tion between the educational systems of the several states has 
many undesirable features. Educational standards vary widely 
from state to state, and often from county to county within 
the same state. The confusion growing out of this situation 
has given rise to the demand for the systematization or 
standardization of our school facilities. 

The question is a difficult one. Most authorities believe 
that education ought not to be centralized under the Federal 
government, but ought, rather, to remain a state function. 
But even though it is not desirable to allow the Federal 
government to take over the chief educational powers of the 
state, it is believed by many that some national agency might 
render valuable service in coordinating the educational pro¬ 
grams of the several states. At present many educators feel 
that the Federal government should insist upon minimum 
standards in education in the various states of the Union. 

Standardization within each state is considered desirable 
by most authorities. All of the educational facilities of a 
given commonwealth probably ought to be coordinated under 
some supervising state agency. The administrative ideal in 
state education is so to systematize the schools of the state 
that they will be bound together by a common purpose, guided 
by the same set of established principles, and directed toward 
the same social ends. 

314. School attendance. —• A serious defect of our educa¬ 
tional system arises in connection with school attendance. In 
many states the school attendance laws are laxly enforced. It 


EDUCATION 


259 


is claimed that at no one time is more than three fourths of our 
school population enrolled in the schools. Of those who do com¬ 
ply with the school attendance laws, there is a considerable per¬ 
centage which cannot acquire an adequate education within the 
limits of the compulsory school period. Only about one third of 
the pupils who enter the first year of the elementary school reach 
the four-year high school, and only about one in nine is gradu¬ 
ated. Of those who enter high school, about one third leave 
before the beginning of the second year, about one half are 
gone before the beginning of the third year, and fewer than 
one third are graduated. 

Within the last decade there has been a marked tendency 
among the several states to enforce school attendance laws more 
strictly. No less encouraging is the growing belief among educa¬ 
tors that the school attendance period ought so to be adjusted 
that every child will be guaranteed the working essentials of 
an education. There is grave doubt as to the wisdom of raising 
the minimum age at which children may withdraw from school, 
but at least greater efforts ought to be made to keep children 
in school at least for part-time schooling beyond the present 
compulsory period. As will be pointed out presently, much is 
already being done in this direction. 

315. Education as preparation for daily life. — It is some¬ 
times said that our educational system neglects practical ac¬ 
tivities for subjects that have no immediate connection with 
the problems of daily life. Many citizens have thoughtlessly 
condemned the whole program of education because they have 
observed that particular schools have allowed pupils to go 
forth with a fund of miscellaneous knowledge which neither 
helps them to get a better living, nor aids them in performing 
the duties of citizenship. On the basis of these and allied con¬ 
siderations, there is a growing demand that education be made 
more “practical.” 

There is much to be said for and against this attitude. Some 
enthusiasts are apparently carrying the demand for “practical” 
education too far. The growing importance in our industrial life 
of efficiency and practical training should not blind us to the fact 


26 o 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


that education is cultural as well as occupational or vocational. 
The education of an individual is not estimated alone by the 
degree to which he succeeds in practical affairs, but as well 
by the extent to which he shows evidence of training in the 
appreciation of moral, artistic, and literary values. It is 
sometimes difficult to see that the study of literature, ancient 
languages, and similar subjects is preparation for life, and yet 
wise training in these fields may prove as important as studies 
which aid more directly and immediately in getting a living. 

On the other hand, our educational system must take note 
of the growing importance of industrial activities. Since ed¬ 
ucation is preparation for life, the school must accommodate 
itself to the changes which are now taking place in our economic 
and social organization. As modern society becomes more com¬ 
plex, more tinged with industrial elements, more a matter of 
cooperation and interdependence, education must become more 
highly evolved, more attentive to vocational needs, and more 
emphatic in the stress which it lays upon the actual duties 
of citizenship. 

The more complex the needs of daily life, therefore, the 
greater the necessity of shifting emphasis in education. But 
in thus shifting the emphasis in education we must be careful 
not to disturb the balance between cultural and “practical” 
subjects. To discriminate between what should be taught and 
what should be omitted from the curriculum, to retain the 
finest elements of our cultural studies, but at the same time 
to fit our citizens to meet the demands of office, shop, and 
factory, — these are the tasks of the educator. 

316. Vocational education. — Vocational training is one of 
the most significant developments in modern education. This 
type of education is designed to train the young person to earn 
a good living in that branch of work for which he seems best 
fitted. Some of the supporters of vocational education believe 
that this specialized form of training ought to be commenced 
very early and in connection with the regular curriculum. 
Others think that vocational education should not be attempted 
until the child has been given enough generalized training to 


EDUCATION 261 

enable him properly to perform the fundamental duties of 
citizenship. 

But whatever its relation to the curriculum, vocational 
education is of great significance. If combined with 
vocational guidance it not only prevents the boy or girl from 
aimlessly drifting into an unskilled occupation, but it singles 
out for special attention children who show special aptitude 
for particular trades and professions. Vocational education 
for the blind, the deaf, the crippled, and the otherwise 
disabled is social service of the finest and most constructive 
type. 

317 . Federal encouragement of vocational education. — In 

February, 1917, Congress passed the Smith-Hughes Act, 
establishing a Federal Board for Vocational Education. This 
board promotes vocational education in cooperation with the 
several states, and administers the Federal aid granted to the 
states under the Act. Each state accepting the provisions 
of the Act must provide a state board to control a sys¬ 
tem of vocational schools. Evening, part-time, and con¬ 
tinuation schools offer instruction in agriculture, industry, 
commerce, transportation, and the professions. Each state 
must also agree to appropriate, either through the state or 
locally, an amount of money for teachers’ salaries, equivalent 
to the sum received from the Federal board. Such states must 
also agree to provide proper buildings and meet the running 
expenses of the system. In the first year under this Act, the 
Federal appropriations amounted to more than a million and 
a half dollars. This sum is to be increased annually until the 
year 1925-1926, when the states will receive $7,000,000 from 
the Federal government in support of vocational education. 

318 . Limitations of the conventional school term. — A few 
decades ago, the typical school in an American city offered 
instruction to certain classes of young people between nine 
o’clock in the morning and three or four o’clock in the afternoon, 
for from 150 to 180 days a year. During the rest of the time 
the schoolhouse was idle. 

This policy greatly restricted the education of important 


262 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


groups of people. Adult immigrants were barred from the ele¬ 
mentary public schools. Persons desiring educational guidance 
in special fields often found that the school offered them no help. 
Cripples, men and women employed in the daytime, and other 
individuals who found it impossible or inconvenient to attend 
school during the conventional time limits, were restricted in 
educational opportunity. Many boys and girls who drop out of 
school because of the necessity of going to work, do so before 
their education has been completed. For most of these classes, 
the inability to take advantage of the regular school term 
has meant the denial of adequate education. 

319 . Wider use of the school plant. — Recently the “ wider 
use of the school plant ” movement is helping these classes 
to secure or continue their education. For unassimilated immi¬ 
grants, day and evening courses in citizenship are now pro¬ 
vided in many cities and towns. In many cities vacation schools 
have been established for the convenience of children who have 
failed in their studies, or who are able and willing to make 
unusual progress in various subjects. For those who work by 
day there is often a chance to go to school by night. For those 
who find it inexpedient to leave their homes, there are, in 
many places, travelling libraries and correspondence courses. 
In some western states the farmer now has an opportunity of 
taking extension courses from the State university during those 
seasons in which his work is lightest. For pupils who are under 
the necessity of partially or entirely supporting themselves, 
some cities now have part-time or all-around-the-year schools. 

320 . The school as a social center. — Closely associated with 
the movement to extend school facilities to those who would 
ordinarily be debarred from them, is the movement toward mak¬ 
ing the school a social center. Many city and some rural schools 
now provide free to the general public lectures on science, art, 
literature, and business. Moving pictures, dramatics, and other 
forms of entertainment are becoming a regular feature of this 
type of school work. In many schools the gymnasiums are 
available to the public under reasonable restrictions. Folk 
singing and dancing are being encouraged in numerous schools. 


EDUCATION 


263 

Schoolrooms devoted by day to regular school courses are in 
many places being used during the evening for the discussion 
of public questions. In these and other ways the school is be¬ 
coming a center of life for the community. It is extending into 
the homes of the people and is becoming the instrument of the 
community rather than of a particular group. 

321. Education and social progress. — We may sum up the 
problems so far discussed in this text by noting that their solu¬ 
tion calls for three different types of treatment. 

First, we must strike at the root of poverty by giving every 
individual just what he earns, by making it possible for every 
individual to earn enough to support himself and his family 
decently, and by teaching him to spend his income wisely and 
economically. 

Second, wise and careful laws must be passed for the purpose 
of correcting and lessening the social defects of American 
democracy. 

Third, education must be relied upon to render the individual 
able and willing to do his duty toward himself and his country. 
The boys and girls of to-day are the voters and home-makers 
of to-morrow, and the responsibility of preparing those boys 
and girls for the efficient conduct of community life rests almost 
entirely upon the school. Thus education is one of the most 
basic factors in social progress. Neither a reorganized economic 
system, nor the most carefully drawn laws on social questions 
will solve the problems of American democracy until the 
individual citizen is trained to a proper appreciation of his 
responsibilities toward himself and toward his country. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is the scope of education? 

2. What is the relation of education to democracy? 

3. Trace briefly the development of education in this country. 

4. Enumerate the chief merits of our educational system. 

5. What problem arises in connection with financing the schools? 

6. Explain the failure of some taxpayers properly to support the 

schools. 

7. Discuss the control of education in this country. 


264 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

8. Outline the problem of uniform educational standards. 

9. To what extent is school attendance a problem? 

10. What are the chief tasks of the educator? 

11. Discuss the purpose of vocational education. 

12. What is the nature of the Smith-Hughes act? 

13. What are the limitations of the conventional school term? 

14. What is meant by the “wider use of the school plant” movement? 

15. To what extent is the school becoming a social center? 

16. What is the relation of education to social progress? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter xxvi. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Cubberley, Changing Conceptions of Education , all. 

3. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States , chapter xviii. 

4. McMurry, How to Study, part L 

5. Perry, Wider Use of the School Plant , chapter i. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Discuss briefly the progress made in education since the Civil 

War. (Cubberley, pages 38-42.) 

2. Name an important defect of our educational system as it existed , 

in the eighties. (Perry, page 3.) 

3. Discuss the development of the high school. (Guitteau, pages 

1 74 -i 75 -) 

4. To what extent does the Federal government aid State education? 

(Guitteau, page 176.) 

5. Compare briefly the four types of school administration. (Guitteau 

pages 177-180.) • - 

6. What are the chief sources of school revenues? (Guitteau, pages 

182-183.) 

7. What has been the effect of immigration upon our educational 

system? (Cubberley, pages 14-15.) 

8. What is the function of the vacation school? (Perry, pages 6-7.) 

9. What is meant by the problem of leisure time? (Cubberley, 

page 20.) 

10. Outline briefly the present tendencies in education. (Cubberley, 

pages 49-69.) 

11. Outline the principal factors in study. (McMurry, pages 15-23.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Trace the development of public school education in your state, 

2. Classify the types of schools in your state. 


EDUCATION 265 

3. Draw up a list of the more important provisions in your state 

constitution regarding education. 

4. Sources of school revenues in your community. 

5. State supervision of the public schools in your commonwealth. 

6. Influence of the Smith-Hughes act upon education in your state. 

7. Use of the school as a social center in your community. 

11 

8. The meaning of education. (Butler, The Meaning of Education; 

Henderson, What is it to he Educated? Hadley, The Education 
of the American Citizen; Baldwin, The Relation of Education 
to Citizenship.) 

9. The beginnings of American education. (Cubberley, Public 

Education in the United States, chapter ii.) 

10. The reorganization of elementary education. (Cubberley, Public 

Education in the United States, chapter x.) 

11. Education through play. (Curtis, Education through Play.) 

12. The use of leisure time. ( Annals, vol. lxvii, pages 115-122.) 

13. Wider use of the school plant. (Cubberley, Public Education in 

the United States, chapter xiii; Annals, vol. Lxvii, pages 170-202. 
Perry, Wider Use of the School Plant.) 

14. The relation of the school to the community. (Dewey, Schools of 

To-morrow, chapter vii.) 

15. Physical education. (Sargent, Physical Education.) 

16. The education of Helen Keller. (Keller, The Story of My Life. 

See also an encyclopedia.) 

17. The education of the crippled child. (Hall and Buck, Handi¬ 

crafts for the Handicapped.) 

18. Education for efficiency. (Eliot, Education for Efficiency; Daven¬ 

port, Education for Efficiency.) 

19. Vocational education. (Taylor, A Handbook of Vocational Guid¬ 

ance; Bloomfield, The Vocational Guidance of Youth; Leake, 
Industrial Education, Its Problems, Methods and Danger.) 

20. Choosing a vocation. (Parsons, Choosing a Vocation.) 

21. The United States Bureau of Education and the immigrant; 

{Annals, vol. lxvii, pages 273-283.) 

22. Education and social progress. (Ellwood, Sociology and Modern 

Social Problems, chapter xvi.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

23. Do grammar school graduates who fail to enter high school stop 

their education at this point because of poverty, because of the 
attraction of industry, or because of dissatisfaction with school? 

24. The question of free text books. 


266 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


25. The question of uniform text books throughout your state. 

26. At what point in the school curriculum should vocational ed* 

ucation be begun? 

27. How are ancient languages, ancient history and the fine arts helpful 

in daily life? 

28. The question of a more intensive use of your school building as 

a social center. 


PART IV — AMERICAN POLITICAL 
PROBLEMS 

A. Some Economic Functions of Government 
CHAPTER XXVII 

PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: REGULATION 

322. Necessity of public interest in business. —Although 
individuals carry on business primarily for their own ends, the 
economic activities of men affect not only themselves, but the 
community as well. If every individual voluntarily confined 
his attention to those forms of business which strengthened 
the community as well as adding to his own prosperity, there 
would be little need for laws regulating the conduct of business. 
But because experience has shown that some persons will seek 
to benefit themselves in ways that react to the injury of the 
community, it becomes necessary for law to adjust private and 
public interests. A community cannot remain indifferent to 
the economic activities of its citizens. Public interest in busi¬ 
ness is a fundamental necessity, if the community is to be safe¬ 
guarded against the abuses of free enterprise. 

323. Nature of public interest in business. — In general, 
the object of laws regulating business is either to encourage 
helpful business methods, or to discourage harmful business 
methods. A good deal of legislation has been designed posi¬ 
tively to encourage helpful business methods, yet it remains 
true that the most significant of our industrial laws have been 
aimed primarily at the discouragement of harmful business. 
A fundamental American ideal is to insure to the individual 
as much freedom of action as is consistent with the public 
interest. Thus we believe that if harmful business is controlled 
or suppressed, private initiative may be trusted to develop 

267 


268 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


helpful business methods, without the aid of fostering legisla^ 
tion. In this and the following chapter, therefore, we may 
confine our attention to legislation designed to suppress harm¬ 
ful business methods. 

324. The nature of monopoly. — We may begin the discus¬ 
sion by inquiring into the nature and significance of monopoly. 

Under openly competitive conditions the free play of supply 
and demand between a number of producers and a number of 
prospective consumers fixes the price of a commodity. In such 
cases consumers are protected against exorbitant prices by the 
fact that rival producers will underbid each other in the effort 
to sell their goods. 

But if the supply of a good, say wheat, is not in the hands of 
several rival producers, but is under the control of a unified 
group of persons, competition between the owners of the wheat 
is suppressed sufficiently to enable this unified group more 
nearly to dictate the price for which wheat shall sell. In such 
a case a monopoly is said to exist. Complete control of the 
supply of a commodity is rare, even for short periods, but 
modern business offers many instances of enterprises which are 
more or less monopolistic in character. 

The essential danger of monopoly is that those who have 
secured control of the available supply of a commodity will 
use that control to benefit themselves at the expense of the 
public. By combining their individual businesses, producers 
who were formerly rivals may secure the chief advantage of large- 
scale management. That is to say, the cost of production per 
unit may be decreased, because several combined plants might 
be operated more economically than several independent con¬ 
cerns. If the cost of production is decreased the combining 
producers can afford to lower the price of their product. But 
if they are practically in control of the entire supply, they will 
not lower the price unless it serves their interests to do so. 
Indeed it is more likely that they will take advantage of their 
monopoly to raise the price. 

325. Types of monopoly. — Monopolies are variously clas¬ 
sified, but for our purpose they may be called either natural 
or unnatural. 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: REGULATION 269 

A natural monopoly may exist where, by the very nature of 
the business, competition is either impossible or socially unde¬ 
sirable. Examples of this type of monopoly are gas and water 
works, street railways, steam railways, and similar industries. 
These will be discussed in the next chapter. 

Where an unnatural monopoly exists, it is not because the 
essential character of the^ business renders it unfit for the com¬ 
petitive system, but because competition has been artificially 
suppressed. The traditional example of an unnatural monopoly 
is that form of large-scale combination which is popularly 
known as a trust. 

326. Origin of the trust. — After the Civil War, rivalry in 
many industries was so intense as to lead to “cutthroat ’’ compe¬ 
tition and a consequent reduction in profits. For the purpose 
of securing the advantages of monopoly, many previously com¬ 
peting businesses combined. In 1882 John D. Rockefeller or¬ 
ganized the Standard Oil Company, the first trust in this country. 
The plan drawn up by Mr. Rockefeller provided that the owners 
of a number of oil refineries should place their stock in the 
hands of a board of trustees. In exchange for this stock, the 
owners received trust certificates on which they were paid 
dividends. Having control of the stock, the trustees were 
enabled to manage the combining corporations as one concern, 
thus maintaining a unified control over supply, and opening 
the way to monopoly profits. 

327. Present meaning of the term “trust.”—The plan 
initiated by Mr. Rockefeller was so successful that other groups 
of industries adopted it. After 1890 the original trust device 
was forbidden by statute, and the trust proper declined in im¬ 
portance. But there continued to be a large number of indus¬ 
trial combinations which, under slightly different forms, have 
secured all of the advantages of the original trust. In some 
cases previously competing corporations have actually amal¬ 
gamated; in still other cases, combining concerns have 
secured the advantages of monopoly by forming a holding com¬ 
pany. A holding company is a corporation which is created 
for the express purpose of “ holding ” or controlling stock in 


270 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

several other corporations. This the holding company does by 
buying a sufficient amount of the stock of the combining con¬ 
cerns to insure unity of management and control, Since the 
holding company and similar devices secure the chief advantages 
of the original trust, the word “ trust ” is now used to designate 
any closely knit combination which has monopolistic advantages. 

328. Growth of the trust movement. — The trust move¬ 
ment developed rapidly after 1882. There were important 
combinations in the oil, tin, sugar, steel, tobacco, paper, and 
other industries. By 1898 there had been formed some eighty 
trusts, with a total capitalization of about $1,000,000,000. 
At the beginning of 1904 the number of trusts exceeded three 
hundred, while their combined capital totalled more than 
$5,000,000,000. The largest single trust was the United States 
Steel Corporation, which was capitalized at almost a billion 
and a half dollars. At the beginning of 1911, in which year 
the Supreme Court of the United States ordered two important 
trusts to dissolve, the combined capital of the trusts was 
probably in excess of $6,000,000,000. 

329. Abuse of power by the trusts. — Trusts have often 
abused their monopolistic powers. They have often used 
their wealth to corrupt legislatures and to attempt to in¬ 
fluence even the courts, in the effort to prevent laws and court 
decisions from restricting their monopoly. The corruption of 
railway corporations and of political parties has been partly 
due to the evil influence of the trusts. Trusts have often 
crushed out independent concerns that endeavored to compete 
with them. This has been accomplished, partly by inducing 
railroads to discriminate against independent concerns and in 
favor of the trusts, partly by cutting prices in competitive 
markets until independent concerns were crushed out, and 
partly by the use of bribes, threats, and other unfair methods. 
After competition had been suppressed, the trusts took ad¬ 
vantage of their monopoly to raise prices on their products, 
thus imposing a heavy burden upon the public. 

330. The Sherman Anti-trust Act. (1890.) — During the 
eighties a number of states attempted to control the trust 


(PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: REGULATION 271 

movement. But the Federal government has exclusive juris¬ 
diction over interstate business, and for this reason the action 
of the states was limited to the control of the relatively unim¬ 
portant trust business lying entirely within their respective 
borders. The fact that an increasing proportion of trust busi¬ 
ness was interstate in character stimulated interest in Federal 
anti-trust legislation, and in 1890 the Sherman Anti-trust Act 
was passed. This Act declared illegal “ every contract, com¬ 
bination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in 
restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or 
with foreign nations.” 

331 . Failure of the Sherman Act. — For more than twenty 
years after its passage, the Sherman Act did little to curb the 
growth of the trusts; indeed, the most marked tendency toward 
trust formation occurred after 1890. Numerous suits were 
brought under the Act, but the lukewarm attitude of the courts 
rendered difficult the administration of the law. After 1911 
the courts held that the restraint of trade was illegal if “ un¬ 
reasonable,” but few juries could be found that could agree upon 
the difference between a “reasonable” and an “unreasonable” 
restraint of trade. Lastly, combinations which had been organ¬ 
ized under the original trust plan were not disheartened by 
court decrees ordering them to dissolve, but reorganized under 
some device which was practically as effective as the trust 
plan, but which did not technically violate the Sherman act. 

332 . Further legislation in 1914 . — Finally in 1911 the gov¬ 
ernment succeeded in dissolving the Standard Oil Company 
and the American Tobacco Company, two of the largest trusts 
in the country. This success encouraged the Department of 
Justice to institute other suits, and stimulated such general 
interest in the trust problem that in 1914 Congress passed two 
new Anti-trust Acts. These were the Clayton Act and the 
Federal Trade Commission Act. The general effect of these 
laws was to strengthen anti-trust legislation by correcting some 
of the fundamental defects of the Sherman Act, and by still 
further extending the power of the Federal government over 
monopolistic combinations. 


27 2 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


333. The Clayton Act of 1914. — The Clayton Act forbids 
“ unjustifiable discriminations in the prices charged to dif¬ 
ferent persons,” and also prohibits the lease or sale of goods 
made with the understanding that the lessee or purchaser shall 
not patronize competing concerns. The Act specifies a number 
of other practices which constitute unreasonable restraints of 
trade. Somewhat complicated limitations are imposed upon 
interlocking directorates, by which is meant the practice of 
individuals being on the board of directors of different corpora¬ 
tions. 1 The Act likewise forbids the acquisition by one corpora¬ 
tion of stock in another corporation when the effect may be 
“to substantially lessen competition” between such corpora¬ 
tions, or “to tend to create a monopoly.” 

334. The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. — The 
second of the two Acts of 1914 created a Federal Trade Com¬ 
mission of five members, appointed by the President. The 
Commission has the power to require annual or special reports 
from interstate corporations in such form and relating to such 
matters as it may prescribe. At the request of the Attorney- 
General, the Commission must investigate and report upon any 
corporation alleged to be violating the anti-trust laws. The 
most important power of the Commission is undoubtedly that 
of issuing orders restraining the use of “unfair methods of 
competition in commerce.” This clause aims at prevention 
rather than at punishment, and if its power is wisely used it 
will check monopoly in the early stages. Most authorities 
claim that in this regard the work of the Commission has already 
proved definitely helpful. 

335. The outlook. — Since 1911, and especially since the 
passage of the two Acts of 1914, the trust situation has materially 
improved. The vague and wholly inadequate powers of the 
old Sherman Act have been clarified and supplemented by the 
more specific provisions of the Clayton and Federal Trade Com- 

1 The danger of the interlocking directorate, of course, is that 
individuals who are directors in two or more corporations may attempt 
to suppress competition between those corporations. This may lead 
to monopoly. 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: REGULATION 273 

mission Acts. Fairly adequate machinery for the investigation 
and prosecution of trusts is now provided. The present laws 
cover not only combinations making use of the old trust device, 
but also combinations employing other methods of exercising 
monopoly control. The Federal Trade Commission Act pro¬ 
vides for publicity, so that public opinion may have a chance 
to enforce the principle of fair play and open competition in 
business. The trust problem in the United States is not yet 
solved, but the careful control which we are now exercising 
over this type of organization justifies the belief that the trust 
evil will become less important as time goes on. 

336 . The trust problem of the future. — In connection with 
the matter of making anti-trust legislation more effective, a 
new and pressing problem is arising. This has to do with the 
necessity of distinguishing, first, between the legitimate and 
the illegitimate practices of trusts 1 ; and second, between com¬ 
binations which are monopolistic and combinations in which 
there is no element of monopoly. 

We are coming to realize a fact which in Europe has long 
been a matter of common knowledge, namely, that trusts are 
never wholly and unqualifiedly bad. The law should not aim 
to destroy trusts, but rather should attempt so to regulate 
their activities that their economical features will be preserved 
while their harmful practices will be suppressed. Laws should 
also recognize the fact that many large-scale combinations have 
in them no element of monopoly, and that such combinations 
should be exempted from anti-trust prosecution. In drawing 
up anti-trust legislation, prohibitions and restrictions should be 
as concise and as definite as possible, both in order to facilitate 
the execution of the law, and in order to prevent hardships being 
worked upon combinations which have consistently observed 
the rules of fair play in competitive business. 

1 Large-scale combination or management allows important economies 
to be practiced. Plant can be used more advantageously, supervision 
is less costly, supplies can be purchased in large quantities and hence 
more cheaply, etc. The securing of these economies constitutes a legiti¬ 
mate feature of large-scale combination or management. 


274 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Questions on the Text 

1. Why is public interest in business necessary? 

2. What is the nature of public interest in business? 

3. What is the nature of monopoly? 

4. What are the two types of monopoly? Give an example of each. 

5. Describe the origin of the trust. 

6. Explain clearly the meaning of the word “trust” as it is now used. 

7. During what period of our history was trust development greatest? 

8. In what sense have trusts abused their power? 

9. What was the purpose of the Sherman act of 1890? 

10. How did the act work out in practice? 

11. What important development is associated with the period 1911- 

1914? 

12. What are the main provisions of the Clayton act? 

13. What is the purpose of the Federal Trade Commission act? 

14. Outline the problem of the future with respect to trusts. 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxvii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Durand, The Trust Problem, chapter i. 

3. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xiii. 

4. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter xxviii. 

5. Seager, Principles of Economics, chapter xxv. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What are the four methods by which industrial combinations 

have taken place? (Fetter, pages 433-434.) 

2. What are the three types of trusts? (Durand, page 9.) 

3. What is a pool? (Durand, page 9.) 

4. Name some of the important trusts which were formed between 

1890 and 1899. (Fetter, pages 435-436.) 

5. Name some of the most successful trusts. (Seager, page 456.) 

6. What is the relation of trust development to the tariff? (Seager, 

pages 464-465.) 

7. What is the evil of over-capitalization? (Seager, pages 465-466; 

Ely, pages 221-223.) 

8. What are the chief advantages claimed for the trust? (Ely, pages 

228-230.; Durand, page 28.) 

9. What are some of the devices used in “unfair competition”? 

(Ely, pages 239-240.) 



PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: REGULATION 275 

10. What are the three ways of dealing with the trust evil? (Durand, 

pages io-ii.) 

11 . How has the trust evil been handled in other countries? (Ely, 

pages 245-246.) 

12. What can be said as to the ultimate solution of the trust problem? 

(Durand, page 30.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. The chartering of corporations in your state. 

2. History of anti-trust legislation in your state. 

3. Outline the present laws of your state relative to monopolistic 

combinations. 

4. Trust development in your state, or in your section of the country. 

II 

5. The nature of monopoly. (Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xii; 

Seager, Principles of Economics, chapter xxiii.) 

6. Causes of trust formation. (Van Hise, Concentration and Control, 

pages 21-25.) 

7. Purposes of trust formation. (Van Hise, Concentration and Control, 

pages 25-31.) 

8. Forms of industrial combination. (Van Hise, Concentration 

and Control, pages 60-72.) 

9. Text of the Sherman anti-trust act. (Ripley, Trusts, Pools and 

Corporations , pages 484-485; Durand, The Trust Problem, 
appendix i. 

10. Early Supreme Court decisions relative to the Sherman act. 

(Ripley, Trusts, Pools and Corporations, pages 506-549.) 

11. The Sherman act in actual operation. (Hamilton, Current Eco¬ 

nomic Problems, pages 433-441.) 

12. The “rule of reason.” (Ripley, Trusts, Pools and Corporations, 

pages 606-702.) 

13. Difficulty of regulating trusts. (Durand, The Trust Problem, 

chapter iii.) 

14. Text of the Federal Trade Commission act. (Durand, The Trust 

Problem, appendix iii.) 

15. Relation of the Federal Trade Commission to the courts. ( Annals, 

vol. lxiii, pages 24-36.) 

16. Relation of the Federal Trade Commission to our foreign trade. 

( Annals, vol. lxiii, pages 67-68.) 

17. Alleged advantages of trusts. (Durand, The Trust Problem , 

chapter iv; Van Hise, Concentration and Control, pages 8-21.) 


2/6 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


18. Trust regulation in foreign countries. (Van Hise, Concentration 

and Control, chapter iv.) 

19. The history of some one trust, as, for example, the American Sugar 

Refining Company, the United States Steel Corporation, the 
American Tobacco Company, or the International Harvester 
Company. (Consult any available literature.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

20. What is a reasonable as opposed to an unreasonable restraint 

of trade? 

21. How is it possible to tell when combination has resulted in 

monopoly? 

22. To what extent is the mere size of an industrial organization an 

indication of monopoly? 

23. Does monopoly always result in a higher price being asked for 

the monopolized article? 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 

337 . Basis of natural monopoly. — The most important 
examples of natural monopoly are found in those industries 
which are known as public utilities. Public utilities include 
gas and electric light works, waterworks, telephone and tele¬ 
graph plants, and electric and steam railways. 

These industries are by their very nature unsuited to the 
competitive system. This is chiefly because they operate under 
the principle of decreasing cost, that is to say, the greater the 
volume of business handled by a single plant, the less the cost 
of production per unit. In order to serve 100,000 customers 
with gas, for example, it may be necessary to make an initial 
outlay of $90,000 in plant and supplies. With this identical 
plant, however, the gas works could really manufacture gas 
sufficient to serve more than 100,000. If, later, the city grows 
and the number of customers using gas doubles, the gas 
works, already having its basic plant, will not have to expend 
another $90,000, but only, say, an additional $30,000. 

This principle has the double effect of virtually prohibiting 
competition and of encouraging combination. Since a street 
or a neighborhood can be served with water or gas more cheaply 
by a single plant than by several competing plants, competing 
plants tend to combine in order to secure the economies result¬ 
ing from decreasing cost and large-scale production. On the 
other hand, the cost of duplicating a set of water mains or a 
network of street car tracks is so prohibitive as to render com¬ 
petition undesirable, both from the standpoint of the utility 
and from the standpoint of the public. 

This natural tendency toward monopoly, together with the 
social importance of public utilities, has given rise to a demand 

277 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


278 

that businesses of this type be publicly owned. The problem 
of public ownership may be considered under two heads: first, 
the municipal ownership of local utilities; and, second, the 
national ownership of Steam railroads. 

A. Municipal Ownership 

338. Regulation of local utilities. — In many American 
cities it was formerly the custom of the city council to confer 
valuable privileges upon public service corporations on terms 
that did not adequately safeguard the public interest. In 
making such grants, called franchises, city councils often per¬ 
mitted private corporations the free use of the streets and other 
public property for long periods of time or even in perpetuity. 

The abuses growing out of the careless use of the franchise 
granting power have recently led to a more strict supervision 
of franchises to public service corporations. In most cities, 
franchises are no longer perpetual, but are limited to a definite 
and rather short period, say fifty years. To an increasing extent, 
franchises are drawn up by experts, so that the terms of the 
grant will safeguard the interests of the public. In many states 
there are now public service commissions that have the power 
to regulate privately owned utilities. The chief aim of such 
commissions is to keep informed as to the condition of the 
utilities, and to fix rates and charges which the commission 
considers fair and reasonable. 

339. Arguments for municipal ownership. — Those favor¬ 
ing municipal ownership, as opposed to regulation, declare that 
the conditions affecting rates change so rapidly that no public 
service commission can fix rates fairly or promptly. Public 
ownership would save the cost of regulation, in many cases a 
considerable item. It is maintained that regulation is inevitably 
a failure, and that in view of the social importance of public 
utilities, ownership is a logical and necessary step. 

Important social gains are claimed for municipal ownership. 
It is said that where the plan has been tried, it has promoted 
civic interest and has enlisted a higher type of public official. 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 279 

If all utilities were municipally owned, state legislatures and 
city councils would no longer be subjected to the danger of 
corruption by private corporations seeking franchises. If 
utilities were owned by the municipality, it is claimed, service and 
social welfare rather than profits would become the ideal. The 
public plant could afford to offer lower rates, because it would 
not be under the necessity of earning high profits. Finally, 
service could be extended into outlying or sparsely settled 
districts which are now neglected by privately owned com¬ 
panies because of the high expense and small profits that would 
result from such extension. 

340. Arguments against municipal ownership. — Other stu¬ 
dents of the problem believe that public regulation of utilities 
is preferable to municipal ownership. Those holding this view 
maintain that on the whole regulation has proved satisfactory, 
and that ownership is therefore unnecessary. 

Rather than improving the public service by enlisting a 
higher type of public official, it is maintained, municipal owner¬ 
ship would increase political corruption by enlarging the number 
of positions which would become the spoils of the political 
party in power. The periodic political changes resulting from 
frequent elections in cities would demoralize the administra¬ 
tion of the utilities. Under our present system of government, 
municipal ownership means a lack of centralized control, a 
factor which would lessen administrative responsibility and en¬ 
courage inefficiency. 

The opponents of municipal ownership also contend that the 
inefficiency resulting from this form of control would increase 
the cost of management. This increased cost would in turn 
necessitate higher rates. Moreover, municipal ownership might 
increase enormously the indebtedness of the municipality, 
since either private plants would have to be purchased, or new 
plants erected at public expense. 

341. Extent of municipal ownership. — Some cities have 
tried municipal ownership and have abandoned the scheme 
as unworkable. In some instances this failure has been due 
to the inherent difficulties of the case, in other instances the 


28 o 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


inefficiency of the city administration has prevented success. 
In still other cities ownership of various utilities has proved 
markedly successful. 

Most American cities now own their own waterworks, and 
about one third of them own their own gas or electric light 
plants. A few cities own either a part or the whole of their 
street railways. Municipal ownership of public utilities is still 
in its infancy, but the movement is growing. 

342. Conditions of municipal ownership. — Past experience 
indicates several mistakes to be avoided in any future considera¬ 
tion of the problem of municipal ownership. 

The terms upon which the city purchases a utility ought not 
to be so severe as to discourage the future development of new 
utilities by private enterprise. 

Public ownership is practicable only when the utility has 
passed the experimental stage, for governmental agencies can¬ 
not effectively carry on the experiments, nor assume the risks, 
so essential to the development of a new enterprise. 

Any discussion of public ownership ought to include a con¬ 
sideration of social and political factors, as well as matters 
which are strictly economic. 

The question of municipal ownership should be decided purely 
on the basis of local conditions and for particular utilities. The 
successful ownership of street railways in one city does not 
necessarily mean that a second city may be equally successful 
in operating this utility. Nor does the successful administra¬ 
tion of a gas works by one city necessarily mean that the same 
city can effectively administer its street railways. 

B. National Ownership oe Railroads 

343. Development of railroads in the United States. — The 

railroad history of the United States began when the Balti¬ 
more & Ohio was opened to traffic in 1830, but until the middle 
of the century transportation in this country was chiefly by 
wagon roads, rivers, and canals. After 1850 the westward ex¬ 
pansion and the development of industry throughout the 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 281 


country greatly stimulated railway building. Encouraged by 
lavish land grants and other bounties extended by both state 
and Federal governments, railroad corporations flung a net¬ 
work of railroads across the continent. Local roads were trans¬ 
formed, by extension and consolidation, into great trunk lines 
embracing thousands of miles. From 9,021 in 1850 our railway 
mileage increased to 93,267 in 1880, to 193,345 in 1900, and 
to approximately 260,000 in 1922. 

344. The principle of decreasing cost. — While the rapid 
development of American railroads has had an inestimable 
effect upon our national prosperity, railway development has 
brought with it serious evils. In order to understand the nature 
of these evils, let us notice that with railroads, as with municipal 
utilities, the cost per unit of product or service declines with 
an increase in the number of units furnished. A railroad must 
maintain its roadbed, depots, and terminals whether one or an 
hundred trains are run, and whether freight or passenger cars 
run empty or full. Many of the railroad’s operating expenses 
also go on regardless of the volume of business. Thus the cost 
of handling units of traffic declines as the volume of that traffic 
increases. 

These circumstances influence rate-making in two ways. In 
the first place, railroads can afford to accept extra traffic at a 
relatively low rate because carrying extra traffic adds relatively 
little to the railroad’s expenses. In the second place, rates in 
general cannot be definitely connected with the expense of 
carrying specific commodities, hence rates are often determined 
on the basis of expediency. This means that high rates are 
charged on valuable commodities because those commodities 
can pay high rates, while low rates are charged on cheap goods, 
because those goods cannot stand a high charge. This is called 
“charging what the traffic will bear.” 

345. Evils attending railroad development. — Since many of 
the expenses of the railroad go on regardless of the amount of 
traffic carried, railroads are constantly searching for extra 
business. Competition between railroads has tended to be very 
severe. Rate-wars have been common, because of the small cost 


282 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

of handling extra units of traffic. In the struggle for business, 
railroads once habitually offered low rates on competitive roads 
or lines, and then made up for this relatively unprofitable prac¬ 
tice by charging high rates on non-competitive roads. The 
desire for extra business, together with the pressure exerted by 
trusts and other large shippers, encouraged railroads to make 
rates which discriminated between products, between localities, 
and even between individuals. The ruinous character of com¬ 
petition often led to monopolistic combinations which pro¬ 
ceeded to charge the general public exorbitant rates, but which 
rendered poor service. 

346. Early state legislation. — During the early stages of 
railroad development, the railroads were generally regarded as 
public benefactors for the reason that they aided materially in 
the settlement of the West. But after about 1870 the rail¬ 
roads began to be accused of abusing their position. A greater 
degree of legal control over the roads was demanded. 

The first attempts at the regulation of railroad corporations 
were made by several of the states. For fifteen years various 
commonwealths tried to control the railroads through state 
railway commissions armed with extensive powers. These com¬ 
missions eliminated some of the more glaring abuses of railroad 
combination, but for several reasons state regulation was rel¬ 
atively ineffective. The states had, of course, no authority 
over interstate business, and most railroad revenues were de¬ 
rived from this type of business. State laws regulating rail¬ 
roads were often declared unconstitutional by the courts. Lastly, 
powerful railroad corporations often succeeded in bribing state 
legislatures to refrain from taking action against them. Due 
to these influences, state regulation was generally conceded to 
be a failure. 

347. Federal legislation. — The failure of state laws effec¬ 
tively to control the railroads led to the enactment by Congress 
of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. This Federal act 
created an Interstate Commerce Commission of seven members, 
appointed by the President, and charged with the enforcement 
of the Act. The Act also prohibited discriminations, and for- 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 283 


bade unjust and unreasonable rates. It required that railroads 
should make rates public, and that they should not change 
rates without due notice. Pooling was forbidden, that is to 
say, railroads apparently competing with one another were no 
longer to merge or pool their combined business with the under¬ 
standing that each was to get a previously determined share 
of the joint profits. The objection to pooling was that it sup¬ 
pressed competition and encouraged monopoly. 

In the years that followed, however, the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Act checked railroad abuses very little. The machinery 
of the Act was so defective as to render difficult the successful 
prosecution of offenders. Railroad interests exerted an evil in¬ 
fluence upon government officials who were attempting to enforce 
the Act. The administration of the law was also markedly im¬ 
peded by the fact that the courts tended to interpret the Act 
of 1887 in such a way as to limit the powers of the Commission. 

To a considerable extent discriminations and unnecessarily 
high rates continued until after the opening of the twentieth 
century. Then in 1903 the Elkins Act revived some of the 
waning powers of the Commission. Three years later (1906) 
the Hepburn Law increased the membership of the Commis¬ 
sion, improved its machinery, and extended and reinforced its 
control over rates. In 1910 the Mann-Elkins Act strengthened 
the position of the Commission in several particulars. 

In spite of this additional legislation, however, the rather 
sorry record of railroad regulation up to the time of the World 
War repeatedly raised the question of national ownership of 
railroads. 

348. Arguments in favor of national ownership of rail¬ 
roads. — The arguments in favor of national ownership of 
railroads are similar to those advanced in behalf of the municipal 
ownership of local utilities. 

The failure of regulation, coupled with the social importance 
of the railroads, is said to render ownership imperative. Govern¬ 
ment ownership of railroads is said to have succeeded in several 
of the countries of Europe, notably in Prussia. 

It is believed by many that government ownership would 


284 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


attract a high grade of public official. It is also thought that 
with the change to public ownership the corruption of state 
legislatures by railroads would cease. Since the roads would be 
taken out of private hands and administered as a unit by the 
Federal government, discriminations and other unfair practices 
would cease. 

It is also held that under public ownership service rather than 
profits would become the ideal. Since profits would no longer 
be necessary, lower rates could be offered. Government owner¬ 
ship would allow the elimination of duplicating fines in competi¬ 
tive areas, and would permit the extension of new fines into 
areas not immediately profitable. Thus railroads now operated 
solely for private gain would become instruments of social as 
well as industrial progress. 

349. Arguments against national ownership of railroads. — 

Opponents of national ownership maintain that the experience 
of Prussia and other European countries is no guide to railroad 
management in this country. Differences in political organiza¬ 
tion between this and European countries, for example, render 
unreliable the results of public ownership in Prussia and other 
parts of Europe. 

Many opponents of government ownership contend that the 
elimination of private control would increase, rather than de¬ 
crease, political corruption. Various political interests, they 
say, would bring pressure to bear in favor of low rates for their 
particular sections of the country. 

It is often maintained that the substitution of public for 
private ownership would discourage personal initiative because 
public officials would take little genuine interest in the rail¬ 
roads. It is said that government administration of railroads 
would be marked by waste and inefficiency. This would neces¬ 
sitate higher rates instead of permitting rates to be reduced. 
The large initial cost of acquiring the roads is urged against 
public ownership, as is the gigantic task of administering so 
vast an industry. 

A last important objection to public ownership is that it 
would cause rates to be rigid. Rates would be fixed for rela- 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 285 

tively long periods and by a supervisory agency, rather than 
automatically changing with business conditions as under private 
ownership. This rigidity would force business to adapt itself 
to rates,* instead of allowing rates to adapt themselves to 
business needs. 

350. Government control of railroads, 1917-1920. — Shortly 
after our entry into the World War, the congested condition of 
the railroads, together with the urgent need for a unified trans¬ 
portation system, led to a temporary abandonment of private 
control. On December 28, 1917, President Wilson took over 
the nation’s railroao 1 ^ under powers conferred upon him by 
Congress. The roads were centralized under Director-General 
McAdoo, assisted by seven regional directors who administered 
the railroads in the different sections of the country. 

The Act empowering the President to take over the railroads 
provided that such control should not extend beyond twenty- 
one months after the conclusion of the treaty of peace with 
Germany. But there has never been a well-organized movement 
for government ownership of railroads in this country, and when 
after the signing of the armistice in November, 1918, the im¬ 
mediate return of the roads to private control was demanded, 
there was little opposition. A number of plans proposing 
various combinations of public and private control were re¬ 
jected, and on March 1, 1920, the roads were returned to their 
former owners. 

351. Results of government control during the World 
War. — Government control of the nation’s railroads between 
1917 and 1920 resulted in a number of important economies. 
Repair shops were coordinated so as to be used more syste¬ 
matically and hence more economically. The consolidation of 
ticket offices in cities effected a substantial saving. The coordi¬ 
nation of terminals allowed a more economical use of equip¬ 
ment than had been possible under private control. The uni¬ 
fication of the various railroad systems allowed a more direct 
routing of freight than would otherwise have been possible. 
There was also a reduction in some unnecessarily large managerial 
salaries. 


286 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


On the other hand, the quality of railroad service declined 
under government control. The personal efficiency of many 
types of railroad employees also decreased. Most important 
of all, there was a sharp increase in both freight and passenger 
rates. 

The period of war-time control was abnormal, hence the 
record of the roads under government control during this period 
cannot be taken as wholly indicative of what would happen 
under permanent government control in peace time. But it 
should be noted that, on the whole, the record of the Railroad 
Administration between 1917 and 1920 was good. That the 
above-mentioned economies were effected cannot be denied. 
Moreover, the decline in service and efficiency, as well as the 
increase in rates, is at least partially explained by abnormal 
conditions over which the Railroad Administration had no 
control. The winter of 1917-1918 was the most rigorous in 
railroad history. This circumstance, combined with the un¬ 
usually heavy demands for the transportation of war equipment, 
helped to demoralize the service from the very beginning of the 
period of government control. For a number of years previous 
to 1917 there had been an acute shortage of box cars and other 
equipment, which also helps to explain the poor quality of service 
furnished during the war. The labor force was demoralized by 
the drafting for war service of many trained railroad employees. 
(It is claimed that certain railroad officials sought to discredit 
government control by hampering the administration of the 
roads, but this charge cannot be proved.) 

352 . The Transportation Act of 1920 . — Government con¬ 
trol in war time revealed the true status of the railroads as 
nothing else could. It was seen that up to the period of the 
World War Federal legislation on railroads had in some cases 
been too indulgent, but in other cases so severe as to work a 
hardship upon the roads. To pave the way for a fairer and 
more effective regulation of the nation’s railroads, the Trans¬ 
portation Act of 1920 was passed. At present the railroads 
are privately owned, but publicly regulated by the Interstate 
Commerce Commission, according to the provisions of the 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 287 

Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, the Elkins Act of 1903, the 
Hepburn Law of 1906, the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910, and 
the Transportation Act of 1920. 

353. Summary of present legislation on railroads. — At the 
present time all unfair discriminations are generally forbidden. 
But it is now recognized that under certain conditions a dis¬ 
crimination may be economically justified. Therefore, when 
the inability to levy a discriminatory rate would work a hard¬ 
ship upon a railroad, the Commission is authorized to suspend 
the rule. Pooling is likewise generally forbidden, but here 
again the Commission may authorize the practice at its discre¬ 
tion. Limitations are placed upon the power of railroads to 
transport commodities in which they are interested as producers. 

All interstate rates are to be just and reasonable, and the 
Commission is empowered to say what constitutes just and 
reasonable rates. In order to prevent rate wars, the Commission 
is now empowered to fix minimum as well as maximum rates. 
The Act of 1920 also gives the Commission the power to estab¬ 
lish intro -state rates, where such rates unjustly discriminate 
against interstate or foreign commerce. An intro -state rate, 
of course, is one which has to do only with freight or passenger 
movements which begin and end within the borders of a single 
state. 

The Act of 1920 extended government control over the rail¬ 
roads in a number of important particulars. To check certain 
financial abuses, the Commission now has supervision over the 
issue of railroad securities. For the purpose of increasing the 
social value of the nation’s railroads, the Act of 1920 instructs 
the Commission to plan the consolidation of existing roads 
into a limited number of systems. Another clause in the Act 
of 1920 provides that no railroad may abandon lines, build new 
lines, or extend old ones, without the consent of the Commis¬ 
sion. In times of national emergency, moreover, the Com¬ 
mission may direct the routing of the nation’s freight, without 
regard to the ownership of the lines involved. Lastly, the 
Act of 1920 made provision for a permanent arbitration board 
for the settlement of labor disputes in the railroad industry. 


288 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


354 . The outlook. — In view of the defective character of 
regulatory legislation previous to 1900, government ownership 
of railroads did not seem unlikely. But since the acts of 1903, 
1906, and 1910, and especially since the passage of the Trans¬ 
portation Act of 1920, there has been such high promise of 
efficient regulation as to minimize the movement toward govern¬ 
ment ownership. Not only are old abuses now more likely to 
be remedied, but the Interstate Commerce Commission is now 
empowered to relieve the roads of many undeserved burdens. 
Especially is the Commission keenly appreciative of the neces¬ 
sity of stabilizing the credit of the railroads. Until this is done 
the investing public will have little confidence in the railroad 
business, and the roads will continue to be inadequately financed. 

Perhaps the greatest problem now before the Commission is 
to complete the “physical valuation” of the railroads begun 
in 1913. This valuation aims to discover, by investigations 
conducted by expert appraisers, the actual value of all railroad 
property in the United States at the present time. On the 
basis of this valuation the Commission believes that it can es¬ 
timate the probable amount of invested capital which the rail¬ 
roads represent. After this has been done, the Commission 
can calculate what rates the railroads must charge in order to 
earn a fair dividend on their money. The completion of this 
physical valuation is, therefore, necessary if the Inter¬ 
state Commerce Commission is to fix rates which are just and 
reasonable from the standpoint of the public on the one hand, 
and from the standpoint of the railroads on the other. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is the economic basis of natural monopoly? 

2. Describe the regulation of local utilities. 

3. Give the chief arguments in favor of municipal ownership. 

4. What arguments are advanced against municipal ownership? 

5. What is the extent of municipal ownership in this country? 

6. Name some of the fundamental conditions of municipal ownership. 

7. Outline briefly the development of railroads in this country. 

8. How does the principle of decreasing cost apply to railroads? 

9. Discuss the evils resulting from railroad development. 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 289 

10. Why did State regulation fail to eliminate these evils? 

11. Discuss the nature and effect of the Interstate Commerce Act. 

12. Give the chief arguments in favor of national ownership of railroads. 

13. What are the chief arguments against this step? 

14. When and why were the railroads taken over by the Government? 

15. Explain clearly the nature of the results of government control 

of railroads. 

16. Enumerate the laws under which the Interstate Commerce Com¬ 

mission now administers the railroads. 

17. Summarize present railroad legislation with regard to (a) dis¬ 

criminations, ( b ) rates, and (c) the extension of Federal control 
authorized under the Act of 1920. 

18. What is the greatest problem now before the Commission? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxviii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xxvii. 

3. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapters xxvii and xxx. 

4. King, Regulation of Municipal Utilities, chapter i. 

5. Seager, Principles of Economics, pages 419-431, and chapter xxiv. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is meant by Transportation Economics ? (Ely, page 557.) 

2. Explain clearly why public utilities are natural monopolies. (Seager, 

pages 419-426.) 

3. What is the origin of the right to regulate public utilities in the 

public interest? (King, page 4.) 

4. Why must municipal utilities be regulated or controlled? (King, 

pages 11-16.) 

5. What is the relation of unregulated municipal utilities to bad 

politics? (King, pages 17-19.) 

6. What are the legal duties of corporations controlling municipal 

utilities? (King, page 10.) 

7. What forms may municipal ownership take? (Fetter, pages 

461-462.) 

8. How does uniformity of product favor monopoly? (Fetter, 

page 463.) 

9. Why did the railroads receive liberal help from state and Federal 

governments during the period of railroad development? (Fetter, 
page 413.) 

10. Distinguish between local and personal discriminations. (Fetter, 
pages 416-417.) 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


290 

11. Discuss the nature of the early state railroad commissions. (Fetter, 

pages 420-422.) 

12. In what respects was the Interstate Commerce act amended by 

the legislation of 1903, 1906 and 1910? (Seager, pages 442-443.) 

13. What was the nature of the Commerce Court? (Seager, page 444.) 

14. What is the most convincing argument against the public owner¬ 

ship of the telegraph and the telephone? (Seager, page 445.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Make a list of the natural monopolies in your locality. 

2. To what extent are the public utilities in your locality controlled 

by the (a) municipality, the ( b ) state, the (c) Federal gov¬ 
ernment? 

3. The franchise-granting power in your state. 

4. The regulation of local utilities in your municipality. 

5. Extent of municipal ownership in your section. If possible, visit 

a municipally owned utility and report upon it. 

6. Interview an official of some local utility upon the desirability 

of municipal ownership of that utility. 

7. The history of railroad development in your section. 

8. Outline the more important laws enacted by your state legislature 

relative to railroads. 

9. Service and rates in your locality during the period of government 

control, 1917-1920. 


11 

10. Regulation of local utilities through the franchise. (King, Reg¬ 

ulation of Municipal Utilities, part ii.) 

11. Regulation of local utilities through the utility commission. (King, 

Regulation of Municipal Utilities, part iii.) 

12. Standards of service for local utilities. ( Annals, vol. liii, pages 

292-306.) 

13. The case for municipal ownership. (King, Regulation of Munic¬ 

ipal Utilities; Thompson, Municipal Ownership.) 

14. The case against municipal ownership. (King, Regulation of 

Municipal Utilities; Porter, Dangers of Municipal Ownership .) 

15. Early development of railroads in the United States. (Coman, 

Industrial History of the United States, pages 232-248; Bogart, 
Economic History of the United States, chapters xxiv and xxv; 
Lessons in Community and National Life, Series C, pages 
217-233.) 

16. Geographical distribution of railroads. (Semple, American His¬ 

tory and its Geographic Conditions , chapter xvii.) 


PUBLIC INTEREST IN BUSINESS: OWNERSHIP 291 

17 . Combinations in the railroad industry. ( Lessons in Community 

and National Life, Series A, pages 219-224; Bogart, Economic 
History of the United States, chapter xxix; Johnson, American 
Railway Transportation, chapter iii.) 

18. Rate-making. (Johnson, American Railway Transportation, chap¬ 

ter xx; Bullock, Elements of Economics, pages 212-217.) 

19. Physical valuation of the railroads. ( Annals, vol. lxiii, pages 

182-190.) 

20. Railroad regulation and the courts. (Johnson, American Rail¬ 

way Transportation, chapter xxvii.) 

21. War-time control of railroads in the United States. ( Annals, 

vol. lxxxvi, all; Dixon, War Administration of the Railways in the 
United States and Great Britain, part i.) 

22. Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission upon the desir¬ 

ability of government ownership of railroads in the United 
States. (Cleveland and Schafer, Democracy in Reconstruction, 
pages 382-396.) 

23. War-time control of railroads in Great Britain. (Dixon, War 

Administration of the Railways in the United States and Great 
Britain, part ii.) 

24. Railroad management in England and France. (Johnson, Ameri¬ 

can Railway Transportation, chapter xxiii.) 

25. Railroad management in Italy and Germany. (Johnson, Ameri¬ 

can Railway Transportation, chapter xxiv.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

26. The success with which public utilities in your community have 

been regulated. 

27. Should the franchise-granting power in your state be still further 

restricted? 

28. The success of municipal ownership in your locality. 

29. The relation of ‘‘stock watering” or “overcapitalization” to high 

profits. (See Taussig, Principles of Economics, vol. ii, page 385.) 

30. Is public ownership of railroads more practicable under a demo¬ 

cratic or under an autocratic form of government? 


CHAPTER XXIX 


THE TARIFF 

355 . The principle of exchange. — In Chapters VII and 
VIII it was pointed out that when individuals divide up their 
labor so that each becomes a highly specialized workman there 
is a resultant increase in the community’s productivity. Simi¬ 
larly, when one section of the country is adapted primarily to 
manufacturing, while another section is peculiarly suited to 
farming, there is a gain in national productivity when each of 
these areas specializes in those activities which it can carry on 
most effectively, and is content to resort to trade in order to 
secure the benefit of industries specialized in elsewhere. So 
far as the economic principle is concerned, there is likewise a 
gain when different countries specialize in those forms of pro¬ 
duction at which their citizens are most effective, and are con¬ 
tent to secure through international trade the products of special¬ 
ization in other countries. 

356 . Nature of the tariff. — But though all civilized nations 
allow and even encourage the division of labor among their 
individual citizens and among the various areas within their 
own boundaries, many countries restrict the degree to which 
their citizens may exchange their surplus products for the 
surplus products of foreign producers. In the United States, 
for example, Congress has the power to levy a duty or tariff on 
foreign-made goods which are brought into this country for 
sale. 

This tariff may be levied primarily to increase national 
revenue, in which case the rate of duty is generally too low to 
keep foreign goods out of our markets. When the tariff is 
purely a revenue measure, “free trade” is said to exist. On 
the other hand, a tariff may be so high that domestic goods will 

292 


THE TARIFF 


293 


be protected in our markets against competition from foreign- 
made goods of a similar grade. In this case a protective tariff 
is said to exist, though such a measure also brings in revenue. 
Most tariff measures, indeed, contain both “revenue” and “pro¬ 
tective” elements, and it is only when a tariff act is primarily 
a protective measure that we speak of it as a protective tariff. 

357. The meaning of “protection.”—Let us be sure that 
we understand exactly what is meant by “protection.” Sup¬ 
pose that in the absence of a protective tariff an English-made 
shoe can be produced and brought to this country at a total 
cost of $3.00. Let us assume that this shoe competes in the 
American market with an American-made shoe which is of 
similar grade, but which, for various reasons, it costs $3.50 to 
produce. Suppose, further, that both English and American 
producer must make a profit of $0.50 per pair of shoes, or go 
out of business. In the resulting rivalry, the English shoe can 
sell for $3.50 and make a profit. Competition would force the 
American producer to sell his shoe for $3.50 also, but since 
this would give him no profit, he would be forced out of business. 
In such a case the American manufacturer might secure the 
passage of a protective tariff on this type of shoe, so that the 
English shoe would be charged $0.75 to enter this country for 
sale here.' This would bring the total cost of the English shoe 
up to $3.75, and to make a profit the shoe would have to sell 
for $4.25. But since the American shoe can be sold for $4.00, 
the English shoe is forced out of the market. 1 

The tariff question arises primarily in connection with the 
matter of protection, and may be stated as follows: Ought 
Congress to interfere with international trade by levying pro¬ 
tective duties on imports; and, if so, just how and to what 
extent should such duties be levied? 

358. Tariff history of the United States. — The first tariff 
measure in our national history was the Act of 1789. This was 
a revenue measure, though it gave some degree of protection 

1 If, in this example, the duty were, say, $.25, the foreign shoe could 
continue to enter our markets and compete with the American shoe. 
In this case the tariff would be a revenue , and not a protective measure. 


294 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


to American industries. Down to the close of the War of 1812 
our tariff was mainly for revenue purposes. After the close of 
that war a heavy duty on foreign iron and textile products was 
imposed for the purpose of protecting domestic producers against 
the cheaply-selling English goods which were flooding our mar¬ 
kets. After 1816 it became our policy to combine in the same 
tariff act high protective duties with revenue duties. In 1824 
the general level of duties was raised. In 1828 Congress en¬ 
deavored to lay a tariff which would suit all sections of the 
country, but the attempt failed. 

Between 1828 and 1842 the tariff was gradually lowered. 
Between 1842 and 1861 our tariff policy was unsettled, but in 
the latter year the domestic disturbances brought on by the 
Civil War resulted in the passage of a tariff which turned out 
to be highly protective. In the period immediately following 
the Civil War the tariff continued to be very high, due chiefly 
to pressure from industrial interests which had secured protec¬ 
tion from the war rates. In spite of attempted reform in 1870, 
1873, and 1883, the tariff continued to be highly protective. 

In 1894 the Democrats reduced the tariff somewhat, and in 
1909 the Republicans attempted to satisfy a popular demand 
for lower rates by the passage of the Payne-Aldrich Act. This 
measure reduced some rates, but not enough to satisfy the 
popular mind. In 1912 the Democrats returned to power, and 
the following year passed the Underwood-Simmons Act, lower¬ 
ing the rates on many classes of commodities, and placing a 
number of important articles on the free list. In 1920 the Re¬ 
publican party again secured control of the government, and 
the tariff was raised. At present our tariff is highly protective. 

359 . Compromise character of tariff. — Our tariff history 
is full of inconsistencies. The pendulum has swung first to 
low duties and then to severely high duties. No tariff has 
satisfied all the interests involved; indeed, no other issue, with 
the possible exception of slavery, has provoked as much political 
strife as the tariff. Every tariff is essentially a compromise, 
for a duty upon practically any commodity which we might 
select will benefit some of our citizens, while it will either prove 


THE TARIFF 


295 


of no use to other individuals or will actually injure them. 
Animated by self-interest, the farmer, the lumberman, the 
miner, or the manufacturer, each desires a protective duty on 
the commodity which he produces, and a low rate, or no duty 
at all, upon commodities which he consumes. As a result, the 
tariff has become a sectional problem, in the solving of which 
Congressmen have too often considered as paramount the 
economic interests of the particular locality which they represent. 

360. Nature of the tariff argument.—The tariff question 
generally divides men into two camps, those favoring “free 
trade,” and those demanding duties that are highly protective. 
From the standpoint of economics, the most vital argument 
against protection is that there is no fundamental reason why 
there should not be free trade between nations. Protection is 
economically wasteful because it diverts capital and labor from 
industries in which we are relatively effective to industries in 
which our productivity is relatively low. High protection is 
thus said to decrease national productivity, and to impose a 
burden upon the consumer by preventing him from purchasing 
cheaper foreign-made goods. 

In view of these facts, the free trader claims that to the extent 
that the tariff is an economic proposition, the burden of proof 
rests upon the protectionist. If this assertion is accepted, the 
tariff argument consists of the. attempts of the protectionist to 
outweigh the above economic argument for free trade by putting 
forth economic arguments for protection, and by developing 
social and political reasons for a protective tariff. 

361. An earlier tariff argument. — Formerly one of the most 
important arguments for protection was the home market 
theory. This theory was advanced in 1824 by Henry Clay. 
In the effort to win the agricultural interests to protection, Clay 
maintained that a protective tariff on manufactures would 
develop urban centers, and that this would increase the pur¬ 
chasing power of the city dwellers. This increased purchasing 
power, Clay declared, would assure the farmer of a steady 
domestic market, not only for his staples, but also for perishable 
goods which could not be shipped to foreign countries. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


296 

Though still heard in tariff discussions, this argument now 
exerts less influence than formerly. Perfected means of trans¬ 
portation have tended to place domestic and foreign markets 
on an equal footing. Moreover, the population of our cities 
has increased so much more rapidly than has the productivity 
of our farms, that it is unnecessary artificially to create a 
home market for the farmer’s produce. 

362. The wages argument. — At the present time one of the 
most important arguments in favor of a protective tariff is 
that it either creates or maintains a relatively high level of 
wages for workmen engaged in the protected industries. Those 
advancing this argument believe that free trade would lower 
wages and depress the standard of living for large groups of 
workmen. 

The free trader maintains that high wages do not depend upon 
protection, and this for three reasons: First, equally high wages 
are often paid in protected and unprotected industries alike; 
second, high wages do exist in a number of protected industries, 
but many of these industries also paid high wages before pro¬ 
tection had been secured; third, there is nothing in a protective 
tariff to force employers to pay more than the current wage. 
Rather than raising wages, Professor Taussig maintains, “pro¬ 
tection restricts the geographical division of labor, causes in¬ 
dustry to turn to less advantageous channels, lessens the pro¬ 
ductivity of labor, and so tends to lower the general rate of 
wages.” 

363. The vested interests argument. — An important argu¬ 
ment in favor of continued protection is that the introduction 
of free trade would ruin valuable manufacturing businesses 
which have been built up under protection, and which are un¬ 
prepared or unable to maintain themselves against foreign 
competition. In the case of such industries, it is maintained, 
the removal of protection might result in economic disaster. 
Factories would have to close, investments would depreciate, 
and numerous laborers would be thrown out of employment. 

There is great force in this argument. Even the most ardent 
free trader will admit that a sudden removal of tariff duties 


THE TARIFF 


297 


might be demoralizing to industries long used to protection. 
Nevertheless, the vested interests argument is not so much an 
argument for continued protection as it is a reason why there 
should be a gradual rather than a sudden removal of protec¬ 
tive duties. If protection were to be scaled down gradually 
and wisely, there is no reason why capital invested in industries 
unable to stand foreign competition could not be gradually 
transferred to industries unaffected by foreign competition. 

364. Tariff arguments accentuated by the World War. — 
Three arguments in favor of protection have taken on greater 
importance because of the World War. 

One of these is the anti-dumping argument. From the stand¬ 
point of the American tariff, dumping is the practice which 
some foreign producers have of temporarily selling their surplus 
goods in this country at an abnormally low price. 1 If dumping 
were permanent, we would gain because we would be getting 
goods at a much lower price than we could manufacture them. 
The evil of dumping grows out of the fact that it tends to 
force domestic producers out of business. Then later the foreign 
supply may diminish, in which case we suffer from a shortage 
of goods. If foreign producers do continue to supply the 
American market they may take advantage of the fact that 
American competitors have been forced out of business, and 
demand monopoly prices. The free trader admits the force 
of the anti-dumping argument, and concedes that the intense 
economic rivalry growing out of the World War rendered de¬ 
sirable tariff rates which would protect domestic producers 
against dumping. 

Another protectionist argument which has gained in strength 
because of the War is the “infant industries” argument. Pro¬ 
tectionists claim that industries really adapted to this country 
may be prevented from arising here because of their inability, 
while still in the experimental stage, to meet strong competi¬ 
tion from well-established foreign producers. When an in¬ 
dustry is in the experimental stage the cost of production is 

1 Some American producers in turn ‘‘dump” in foreign markets, 
but with this practice we are not here concerned. 


PROBLEM IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


298 

relatively high, and the price will be correspondingly high. 
Well established and economically-conducted businesses can 
undersell these experimental or “infant” industries. Protec¬ 
tion for such “infant” industries is therefore sought until such 
time as they will be able to stand foreign competition. The 
free trader has generally replied that such protection may be 
desirable in some cases, but maintains that care should be taken 
to make such protection both moderate and temporary, other¬ 
wise protection will perpetuate industries for which we are 
really unsuited. During the World War American producers 
began to manufacture dyes and chemicals formerly imported 
from Germany. The industrial importance of these products 
gave weight to the belief that the new industries which sprang 
up in this country during the War were entitled to protection 
against foreign competition. 

A third protectionist argument which was strengthened by 
the World War is the military or self-sufficiency argument. 
It has long been the claim of the protectionist that high tariff 
duties encourage the development in this country of all in¬ 
dustries producing the necessities of life, as well as all supplies 
which are vital in war time. High protection was thus de¬ 
fended on the grounds that it permitted the United States to 
be nationally self-sufficing, thus allowing us to be relatively 
independent of other countries, especially in war time. Pre¬ 
vious to the World War many free traders scoffed at this argu¬ 
ment as resting upon an unjustified fear of war, but this atti¬ 
tude was changed by the dangers to which we were subjected 
by the interruption of our foreign trade during the war. At 
present the military or self-sufficiency argument is of great 
importance. 

365. The trend toward protection. — Of late years, there¬ 
fore, there has been a distinct trend toward protection in this 
country. The fear of dumping, the desire to protect infant 
industries established during the World War, and the in¬ 
creased importance of the military or self-sufficiency argument 
have been factors in this trend. Another factor has been that 
the Republican party, traditionally committed to a policy of 


THE TARIFF 


299 


high protection, returned to power in 1920. A last important 
influence has been an increased need for Federal revenue. The 
World War not only increased our indebtedness, but the advent 
of national prohibition in 1919 cut off a source of Federal revenue 
formerly very important. 

366. Tariff needs. — From the standpoint of practical 
politics, one of the greatest needs of our time is for an intelligent 
and public-spirited handling of tariff problems. The tariff is 
a technical and highly complex question, upon which politicians 
have heretofore had too much to say, and trained economists 
too little. Too often, vague claims and political propaganda 
have carried more weight than have facts. 

It is asserted by many that the tariff can never be taken out 
of politics, but this is perhaps too strong a statement. In 
this connection an interesting development was the establish¬ 
ment in 1916 of the United States Tariff Commission. This 
Commission consists of six members appointed by the Presi¬ 
dent for twelve years. Not more than three of the members 
may belong to the same political party. It is the duty of the 
Commission to investigate conditions bearing upon the tariff 
and to report its findings to Congress. It is hoped that this 
plan will place at the disposal of Congress scientific data on 
which to base tariff legislation. So far the Commission has not 
materially reduced the influence of politics upon tariff legisla¬ 
tion, though it is perhaps too soon to expect results. 

It is sometimes said that our tariff policy ought to be less 
changeable. Certain it is that our tariff history is full of in¬ 
consistencies and irrational fluctuations. But the question of 
a tariff policy is a thorny one. Manifestly, business should not 
be forced to accommodate itself to a purely political manipula¬ 
tion of the tariff; on the contrary, the tariff ought to vary 
with changes in business conditions at home and abroad. 
Whatever may be implied by a tariff “policy,” it is also certain 
that the tariff should somewhat accommodate itself to revenue 
needs. Beyond these somewhat general statements, however, 
it is hardly safe to say what should be the basic elements in a 
national tariff policy. 


3 °° 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


1. 

2 . 


3 - 

4 - 

5 - 

6 . 

7 - 

8 . 

9 - 

io. 


13 - 


1. 

2 . 

3 - 

4 - 

5 - 


3 - 

4 - 

5 - 

6 . 

7 - 

8 . 

9- 


Questions on the Text 

Explain the gain from exchange. 

What is meant by the tariff? Distinguish between a revenue and 
a protective tariff. 

State the tariff problem. 

Outline briefly the tariff history of the United States. 

Why is tariff practically always a compromise? 

Discuss the home market argument. 

What can be said for and against the wages argument? 

What is the vested interests argument? 

What effect did the World War have upon the anti-dumping 
argument? 

What is the military or self-sufficiency argument? 

How did the war affect the infant industries argument? 

Why was there a trend toward protection after the World War? 

What is the nature and purpose of the United States Tariff Com¬ 
mission? 

Required Readings 

Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxix. 

Or all of the following : 

Carver, Elementary Economics , chapter xxvii. 

Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter xv. 

Seager, Principles of Economics, chapter xxii. 

Thompson, Elementary Economics, chapter xix. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

What is the extent of the protective tariff throughout the world? 
(Fetter, page 218.) 

Distinguish between a specific and an ad valorem duty. (Fetter, 
pages 219-220.) 

What is meant by a free list? (Fetter, pages 220-221.) 

What is the fundamental proposition of the free trader? (Carver, 
page 244; Thompson, pages 262-263.) 

What is the “no buying no selling” argument? (Thompson, 
page 263.) 

What is the balance-of-trade argument? (Carver, page 245.) 

What is the origin of the present tariff system? (Seager, pages 
394 - 395 -)' 

What is the political argument in tariff discussions? (Seager, 
page 397.) 

What is the relation of tariff to political corruption? (Seager, 
page 405.) 


THE TARIFF 


301 

10. What was the character of the Payne-Aldrich tariff of 1909? 

(Fetter, pages 233-234.) 

11. What was the character of the Underwood tariff of 1913? (Fetter, 

pages 234-236.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. The home market argument with reference to conditions in your 

section. 

2. The infant industries argument with reference to conditions in 

your section. 

3. Commodities essential to the prosperity of your community which 

are imported from abroad. 

4. The attitude of your section of the country toward the tariff. 

Has this attitude changed in the past fifty years? 

5. Write to your Representative in Congress for his opinion on the 

need of a “fixed tariff policy.” 

6. Interview several friendly business men on. their attitude toward 

the tariff. 

7. Interview a member of the Democratic party upon the attitude 

of his party toward the tariff. 

8. Interview a member of the Republican party upon the attitude 

of his party toward the tariff. 

II 

9. The principle of international trade. (Taussig, Principles of 

Economics , vol. 1, chapter xxxiv; Fetter, Modern Economic 
Problems , chapter xiii.) 

10. The gain from international trade. (Taussig, Principles of Eco¬ 

nomics, vol. 1, chapter xxxv.) 

11. The infant industries argument as applied to American industries. 

(Taussig, Tarif History of the United States, Part I, chapter i.) 

12. The Civil War tariff. (Taussig, Tarif History of the United 

States. Consult also any economic history of the United States, 
or any standard text on economics.) 

13. Tariff administration. ( Cyclopedia of American Government.) 

14. Political aspects of the tariff. (Tarbell, The Tarif in Our Times, 

chapter xii.) 

15. The history of any important tariff since the Civil War. (Consult 

Taussig, Tarif History of the United States; Fetter, Modern 
Economic Problems, chapter xv; any standard work on the 
economic history of the United States; or any encyclopedia 
under “Tariff.”) 


3°2 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


16. The tariff in Germany. (Ashley, Modern Tariff History , part i.) 

17. The tariff in France. (Ashley, Modern Tariff History , part iii.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

18. Why has the wages argument increased in importance within the 

last half century? 

19. How could our protective tariff be abolished without endangering 

present investments in protected industries? 

20. The question of a national tariff policy. 

21. To what extent should the formulation of our tariff acts take into 

consideration the wishes of foreign producers who desire to 
sell their goods in this country? 


CHAPTER XXX 


CONSERVATION 

367. Attitude of the early settler toward natural re¬ 
sources. — The chief concern of the early American settler 
was to turn a virgin continent into homes as quickly and as 
easily as possible. During the seventeenth, eighteenth, and most 
of the nineteenth century, our natural resources were very 
abundant, while labor and capital were relatively scarce. As 
the settlers spread across the Appalachians and into the great 
West, it was to be expected, therefore, that the home-maker 
should use labor and capital as carefully as possible and that 
he should use generously such resources as forests, water power, 
and soil fertility. Little blame attaches to the early settler 
for this attitude, indeed he acted in accordance with sound 
economic law. This economic law declares that under any 
particular set of circumstances factors of production should be 
carefully used in proportion as they are scarce, and generously 
used in proportion as they are abundant. 

368. Result: growing scarcity of natural resources. — The 
rapid settlement of the West was essential to our national unity 
and development. Nevertheless, the extensive and even lavish 
use of natural wealth since colonial times has lately called at¬ 
tention to the scarcity of resources formerly considered over¬ 
abundant. 

More than three fourths of our original forest area has been 
culled, cut over, or burned, since colonial times. Wholesale 
logging methods have swept vast areas bare of valuable timber. 
Careless cutting has wasted a quarter of our timber supply. 
In the lumber mill about 40 per cent of the entire volume of 
the logs is lost by wasteful methods of work. Since 1870 forest 
fires have annually destroyed more than $50,000,000 worth of 

303 


3°4 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


timber. Altogether our timber supply is diminishing three or 
four times as fast as we are replenishing it. 

By holding sod in place, forests furnish a sponge-like reservoir 
which absorbs rainfall and then retains it sufficiently to insure 
that it will be paid out only gradually. The process of cutting 
down forests, called deforestation, destroys the sod, so that 
streams formerly fed from forested areas by a steady process 
become dangerously swollen in certain seasons and greatly re¬ 
duced in size at other times. One effect of this alternation of 
freshets with abnormally dry periods is a loss of steady and 
dependable water power. 

Deforestation has also an injurious effect upon agriculture. 
When heavy rains wash valuable surface soil from the tops and 
sides of hills these denuded areas are rendered less valuable for 
grazing, while the overabundance of top soil in the valleys 
retards effective cultivation. Agriculture also suffers from the 
fact that streams which would ordinarily furnish a steady supply 
of irrigation water are often either in a state of flood or prac¬ 
tically dried up. 

Despite the excellent work done by the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, American farming methods are in many sections of the 
country both careless and wasteful. The abundance of land 
in past years seemed to justify our free use of it, nevertheless 
such use has in many cases resulted in a serious loss of fertility. 
Careless tillage and a failure to rotate crops have resulted in a 
heavy loss of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and other essen¬ 
tial soil elements. 

Heretofore we have used coal very lavishly. Often as much 
coal has been wasted as has been mined. Mining corporations 
have often neglected low grade coal deposits, and have aban¬ 
doned mines without having first removed all of the accessible 
high grade coal. Imperfect combustion, both in dwellings and 
in industrial establishments, is said to waste more than a third 
of our coal, as well as creating a costly and injurious smoke 
nuisance. Our consumption of coal is doubling every ten years. 
In view of the fact that our coal deposits are limited, this in¬ 
creasing consumption is a serious development. 


CONSERVATION 


305 


Iron, too, has been used wastefully. The bog iron deposits 
of the Atlantic coast were used up before 1800, and as the result 
of an intense industrial development since 1850, the supply of 
high grade ores is being speedily diminished. Oil and gas have 
been used lavishly, and even, in some cases, deliberately wasted. 

369 . High prices. — The lavish use of natural resources 
which has characterized the American people since colonial 
times has been an important factor in the cost of living. In 
early days there was an abundance of resources and few people 
to use them; at present the supply of many of our resources is 
greatly diminished, and there is a much larger population seek¬ 
ing to use them. In the case of every natural resource the 
supply is either limited or is failing to increase as rapidly as are 
the demands upon it. The result is higher prices for coal, wood, 
iron, oil, gas, and similar commodities. It is at least partly 
due to the heavy drain upon our resources that the cost of 
building homes, heating them, feeding the population, and 
carrying on the varied activities of American industry is steadily 
increasing. 

370 . Monopoly. — Throughout the history of our natural 
resources there has been a strong tendency toward monopoly. 
Natural resources should be safeguarded for the benefit of 
the people as a whole, yet much of our natural wealth has been 
monopolized by individuals. Four fifths of our timber lands 
are privately owned, and of that four fifths about half is con¬ 
trolled by 2 50 companies. Two thirds of the developed water 
power in this country is controlled by a small group of power 
interests. Defective land laws, the lax administration of good 
laws, and extravagant land grants to railroads have allowed 
private fortunes to be built up without a proportionate advantage 
to the public. Coal and petroleum deposits are controlled 
largely by a few corporations, while a heavy percentage of our 
copper and iron deposits is in private hands. 

371 . The conservation movement. — After the middle of 
the nineteenth century the growing scarcity of many natural 
resources called attention to the need of conserving them. 
Conservation means to utilize economically, rather than to 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


3°6 

hoard. It means, furthermore, that resources should be used 
so that both the present and future generations will reap a 
proper benefit from America’s great natural gifts. Thus con¬ 
servation seeks, Mr. Van Hise once said, “the greatest good to 
the greatest number, and for the longest time.” The dawn of 
the conservation idea stimulated a reaction against the careless 
administration of natural resources. Toward the end of the 
19th century, there was an increasing amount of legislation 
encouraging the legitimate use of natural resources on the one 
hand, and repressing monopoly on the other. After the open¬ 
ing of the twentieth century interest in conservation increased, 
In 1908 President Roosevelt called a conference of the governors 
of the various states for the purpose of considering this vital 
problem, and from that meeting dates a definite and nation¬ 
wide conservation policy in this country. 

Some of the effects of this changing attitude toward natural 
resources may now be noted. 

372. Forests and water power. — In 1891 a Federal law pro¬ 
vided for a system of national forest reservations. These 
reservations now include a substantial proportion of our forests, 
and are steadily extending their limits. Since 1897 there has 
been a Bureau of Forestry which has performed invaluable 
services. Forest fires have been reduced, denuded areas have 
been reforested, forest cutting has been controlled, and a con¬ 
structive program of forest culture developed. Forest reserves 
under the control of the individual states now total more than 
10,000,000 acres. Of late years there has been an increasing use 
of dams and reservoirs for the storage of flood waters and the 
development of water power. This regulation of streams gives 
a uniform flow of water both for navigation and for irrigation 
purposes. 

373. The land.—The desire to encourage the home-maker 
has long been the motive power behind our public land policy, but 
unfortunately many of our earlier land laws did not prevent spec¬ 
ulators and large corporations from fraudulently securing control 
of land intended for the bona fide or genuine settler. Within the 
last quarter of a century our land laws have been reorganized, 


CONSERVATION 


307 


with the double aim of doing justice to this type of settler, and 
of suppressing speculation and monopoly. As the result of Land 
Office investigations in 1913, more than 800,000 acres were re¬ 
turned to the public domain, on the ground that they had been 
secured through fraud. 

The Department of Agriculture has steadily extended its scope. 
Better methods of cultivation, lessons in soil chemistry, and ex¬ 
periments with new and special crops have helped conserve the 
resources of the land. An elaborate system of experiment stations 
has been built up since 1887. The Weather Bureau in the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture saves millions of dollars’ worth of property 
annually by sending out warnings of frost, storm, and flood. 

Reclamation is increasingly important. New crops are being 
developed for the semi-arid areas of the West. Swamp lands in 
the East and South are being drained. Levees and breakwaters 
along the Mississippi are helping to prevent the loss of arable 
land through the river’s changes in course. 

Even more important is the irrigation movement. In 1894 
the Carey Act gave Federal encouragement to several western 
states in irrigation projects, and in 1902 the Reclamation Act 
provided for the construction of irrigation works under the di¬ 
rection of the Secretary of the Interior. The plan provided by 
the Act of 1902 is self-supporting, the expense of the construction 
and improvement of the irrigation system being met from the 
sale of public lands. The administration of the Reclamation 
Act has already resulted in millions of acres being brought under 
cultivation. 

374. Minerals. — Until 1873 coal lands were disposed of on 
practically the same terms as agricultural lands. But after that 
date laws restricting the purchase of coal lands began to be in¬ 
creasingly severe. In 1910 Congress withdrew from public sale 
nearly 100,000,000 acres of coal, petroleum, and phosphate lands. 
At the present time the discovery of coal on land secured by 
settlers for purely farming purposes entitles the government to 
dispose of the coal deposits under special conditions. There is 
also a tendency for the government to demand higher prices of 
individuals buying public coal lands. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


3°8 

In some quarters there is a demand that all coal lands be leased 
rather than sold. The Federal government has not yet yielded 
to this demand, but Colorado and Wyoming now lease rather 
than sell their coal lands. Under the lease system in these states, 
the state retains ownership, but ^allows private individuals a 
definite commission per ton of coal mined. The lease system is 
also advocated in the case of lands containing iron, oil, and gas 
deposits, on the grounds that it safeguards the interests of the 
public and at the same time allows the mining corporations a 
fair profit. 

375. Reasons for optimism. — In spite of the appalling waste 
which has been characteristic of our administration of natural 
resources, the outlook is distinctly encouraging. Resources used 
by past generations are gone forever, but at last we are making 
rapid strides in conserving what is left. Not only this, but we 
are perfecting plans for an increased supply of those resources 
which can be replenished. 

The admirable work of our Forest Service promises not only 
to reduce the present waste of wood products, but actually to 
increase the supply of timber. The Service deserves high praise 
both for its work in saving and replenishing forests, and for its 
wise handling of forest problems involving other resources. “By 
reasonable thrift,” runs a report of the Forest Service, “we can 
produce a constant timber supply beyond our present need, and 
with it conserve the usefulness of our streams for irrigation, 
water supply, navigation, and power.” 

We now appear thoroughly awake not only to the necessity 
of safeguarding what is left of the public domain, but also to the 
necessity of increasing the productivity of inferior lands. There 
are still in this country more than 300,000,000 acres of unap¬ 
propriated and unreserved land. Three fourths of this area is 
at present fit only for grazing, but the rapid development of 
kaffir com, durum wheat, Persian clover, and other crops suitable 
for dry soils bids fair greatly to increase the productivity of this 
land. 

The irreplaceable character of our mineral deposits, together with 
the tendency for large industrial interests to monopolize minerals, 


CONSERVATION 


309 

has greatly stimulated the conservation of these resources. A 
valuable step forward has been the reclassification of public lands 
to allow of special treatment of lands containing mineral deposits. 
Coal is still used lavishly, but nine tenths of our original deposits 
are still in existence. Furthermore, water power, electricity, 
and other substitutes for coal are being developed. Our high 
grade iron ores will be exhausted in a few decades, but an iron 
shortage may be prevented by more careful mining, the use of 
low grade ores, and the use of substitutes. 

376. Different resources call for different treatment. — A 
wise conservation policy will take note of the fact that different 
resources call for different types of treatment. Coal, petroleum, 
oil, and gas are limited in extent and are practically irreplaceable. 
These should be taken from the earth and utilized as economically 
as possible. The same is true of the metallic minerals, such as 
iron and copper, though here the use of substitutes is of greater 
importance than in the case of non-metallic minerals. 

Water can best be conserved by the wise development of water 
power sites, and by the careful utilization of streams. 

Forests may be renewed, but slowly. Their conservation 
requires the prevention of fires, the reduction of waste in cutting 
and milling, the use of by-products, and scientific reforestation. 

Soil elements may also be renewed, though slowly and with 
difficulty. Reforestation prevents erosion and thus conserves 
soil fertility. Systems of crop rotation designed to retain nitrogen, 
potassium, and phosphorus are valuable. 

377. Some conservation needs. — The above considerations 
indicate some of our conservation needs. It is believed by most 
students of conservation that the Federal forest holdings should 
be extended and consolidated. There is need for more stringent 
forest fire regulations, especially in the case of private forests. 
In order to reforest the denuded areas and to grow timber scientifi¬ 
cally some such plan as the German system of forest culture might 
be adopted. There is urgent need of a systematic development 
of our inland waterways. The construction of more dams and 
reservoirs, the dredging of rivers and harbors, the coordination 
of canals and inland waterways, and the improvement of the 


3 IQ 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Mississippi-Great Lakes system, all these would be helpful meas¬ 
ures. Irrigation and other reclamation projects, including the 
drainage of swamp lands, should be developed systematically. 
American farming methods ought still further to be improved. 
We are in need of laws penalizing wasteful methods of mining 
and prohibiting uneconomical methods of combustion. Probably 
the system of leasing rather than selling mineral lands should 
be extended. 

A last vital need in conservation is cooperation between 
state and Federal authorities, and between private individuals 
and public agencies. This is of great importance. Where rivers 
course through several states, and where forest fires in one section 
threaten adjacent forest areas, cooperation must be secured. 
The Governors’ Conference of 1908 stimulated cooperation be¬ 
tween the states and the Federal government, and since 1909 the 
National Conservation Association has been a means of coordi¬ 
nating the work of all persons and agencies interested in conserva¬ 
tion. There is still, however, little cooperation between state 
or Federal governments on the one hand, and private owners 
on the other. It is a matter of special regret that although four 
fifths of our forests are privately owned, both fire prevention and 
scientific forestry are little developed on private estates. 

378. The question of administration. — Though it is conceded 
on all sides that our natural resources ought to be utilized econom¬ 
ically, there is much discussion as to whether the states or the 
Federal government ought to dominate the conservation movement. 

Those favoring the extension of Federal control over conser¬ 
vation point out that forest control, irrigation, conservation of 
water power, and similar projects are distinctly interstate in 
character, and are thus properly a Federal function. Federal 
administration is said to be necessary in order to insure fair treat¬ 
ment of different localities. Finally, it is maintained, the states 
have either neglected the question of conservation, or have handled 
it in their own interests rather than with regard to the national 
welfare. 

A strong party maintains, on the other hand, that conservation 
is primarily a state function. The movement is said to be too 


CONSERVATION 


311 

large for the Federal government to handle. It is contended 
that there is no specific warrant in the Constitution for the Federal 
control of conservation. It is also claimed that Federal admin¬ 
istration of natural resources has been accompanied by waste 
and inefficiency. Conservation is said to be a local question, 
best administered by those most interested in the problem, and, 
by reason of their proximity to it, most familiar with it. 

The problem of administration is a difficult one. In a number 
of cases the claims for and against Federal control are obviously 
sound. But from the standpoint of the public the whole matter 
is of secondary importance: the problem of administration ought 
to be decided on the basis of what is best under particular circum¬ 
stances. Some phases of conservation are probably best looked 
after by the states, others by the Federal government, still others 
by the state and Federal governments jointly. The problem of 
conflicting authority ought somehow to be solved. Conservation 
is too vital a matter to be hampered by the question of method 
or means. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What was the attitude of the early settler toward natural resources? 

2. Discuss the growing scarcity of natural resources. 

3. What is the relation of lavish use of natural resources to the cost 

of living? 

4. What part has monopoly played in the history of our natural 

resources? 

5. Describe the origin and early development of the conservation 

movement. 

6. Outline the conservation of forests and water power. 

7. How is land being conserved? 

8. What is the purpose of the Reclamation Act of 1902? 

9. What measures have recently been taken to safeguard our mineral 

deposits? 

10. Why may the present outlook for conservation be said to be 

optimistic? 

11. Outline our conservation needs. 

12. Why is cooperation essential to the conservation movement? 

13. Give the chief arguments for and against Federal administration 

of conservation. 


3 12 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxx. 

Or all of the following : 

2. Coman, Industrial History of the United States, chapter xi. 

3. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xxxiii. 

4. Van Hise, Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States, 

Introduction. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Into what two classes may natural resources be divided? (Van 

Hisefpage 1.) 

2. Discuss the sale of the public domain under the early land acts. 

(Reed, page 382.) 

3. Outline the destruction of fur-bearing animals by the early settlers. 

(Coman, page 377.) 

4. Explain the effects of depleted pasturage in the West. (Coman, 

pages 381-382.) 

5. What are the aims of the Inland Waterways movement? (Coman, 

page 394.) 

6. What part did Gifford Pinchot play in the Conservation movement? 

(Van Hise, pages 4-5.) 

7. What is the origin of the National Conservation Commission? 

(Van Hise, pages 7-8.) 

8. What is the nature of the North American Conservation Confer¬ 

ence? (Van Hise, page 9.) 

9. Describe the character of the National’ Conservation Association. 

(Van Hise, pages 12-13.) 

10. Why should the Conservation movement be carried forward as 
rapidly as possible? (Van Hise, page 14.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Interview an old resident with regard to the relative abundance 

of forests, cheap land, and wild game in your locality a half cen¬ 
tury ago. 

2. Extent and utilization of forests in your state. 

3. Draw up a comprehensive plan for the prevention of forest fires. 

4. Extent of unused land in your state. What is being done to make 

this land more productive? 

5. Classify the mineral deposits of your state. By whom are they 

controlled? 


CONSERVATION 


313 


6. List the water-power sites in your locality. Draw up a plan for 

reforestation which would include constructive measures for 
the conservation of land and water power as well as forests. 

7. If possible, visit a lumber camp or a mine, and observe the methods 

of work. 

8. Outline a plan for a local conservation club, to be affiliated with 

the National Conservation Association. 

11 

9. The principles of conservation. (Van Hise, Conservation of Nat¬ 

ural Resources , pages 359-362.) 

10. Relation of population to conservation. (Van Hise, Conservation 

of Natural Resources, pages 375-380.) 

11. The use of our forests. (Van Hise, Conservation of Natural Re¬ 

sources, pages 218-260.) 

12. Water power. (Van Hise, Conservation of Natural Resources, 

pages 106-185; Huntington and Cushing, Principles of Human 
Geography, chapter ix.) 

13. Irrigation. (Van Hise, Conservation of Natural Resources, pages 

185-202; Huntington and Cushing, Principles of Human 
Geography, chapter xvii.) 

14. Inland waterways. (Huntington and Cushing, Principles of 

Human Geography, chapter vi.) 

15. Federal control of water in Switzerland. ( Annals, vol. xxxiii, No. 3, 

pages 113-121.) 

16. Land laws of the United States. (Van Hise, Conservation of Nat¬ 

ural Resources, pages 279-297.) 

17. Legal problems of reclamation. ( Annals, vol. xxxiii, No. 3, pages 

180-192.) 

18. The work of Gifford Pinchot. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

19. The Congress of Governors, 1908. (Van Hise, Conservation of 

Natural Resources, appendix i.) 

20. The North American Conservation Conference. (Van Hise, Con¬ 

servation of Natural Resources, appendix ii.) 

21. The National Conservation Association. (Van Hise, Conservation 

of Natural Resources, appendix iii.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

22. To what extent should state governments regulate private forests? 

(Consult Annals, vol. xxxiii, No. 3, pages 26-37.) 

23. Should all mineral lands be leased rather than sold? 

24. Is the adoption of a program of scientific forest culture at this 

time economically justified? 


314 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

25. Under our present laws is it possible effectively to coordinate the 

conservation work of state and Federal governments? 

26. Are higher prices an effective check to the excessive use of forest 

and mineral products? 

27. State versus Federal administration of conservation. (Consult 

the Debaters Handbook Series.) 


CHAPTER XXXI 


CREDIT AND BANKING 

379. Some preliminary definitions. — Money may be defined 
as anything that passes freely from hand to hand as a medium 
of exchange. Money is of two types: first, coin, including gold, 
silver, nickel, and copper coins; and second, paper money, in¬ 
cluding several kinds of certificates and notes. Both types of 
money, coin and paper, are called “cash.” Credit refers to a 
promise to pay money or its equivalent at a future date. A bank 
is an institution which makes it its special business to deal in 
money and credit. A check is a written order directing a bank 
to pay a certain sum of money to a designated person. A bank 
note is a piece of paper money or currency which constitutes the 
bank’s promise to pay in coin and on demand without interest, 
the sum named on the face of the note. A reserve fund is an 
amount of money or securities which a bank habitually keeps 
on hand as a partial guarantee that it will be able to meet its 
obligations. 

380. Types of banks. — Of the several types of banks, the 
savings bank is perhaps the most familiar to young people. A 
savings bank will receive deposits of one dollar or more, and will 
pay interest on these amounts. But the savings bank does not 
pay out money on checks drawn against deposits. Indeed, it 
may require a formal notice of several days before deposits can 
be withdrawn. 

In many states there are trust companies. In addition to 
performing the function of a commercial bank, trust companies 
take care of valuable papers, execute trusts and wills, and some¬ 
times guarantee titles to land. 

The investment bank is usually a private institution, conducted 
chiefly in the interests of certain large industrial organizations. 

315 


316 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

A fourth type of bank is the commercial bank, with which 
this chapter is chiefly concerned. The commercial bank derives 
its name from the fact that it deals largely with business men. 
If classified on the b^tsis of their charters, rather than on the 
basis of function, commercial banks may be either National, 
State, or private banks. 

381. Primary function of the commercial bank. 1 — The primary 
function of a commercial bank is to receive the deposits of persons 
who have saved sums of money for which they have no immediate 
use, and to make loans to persons who desire them. Of course, 
those who have deposited sums with a bank may draw on their 
accounts at any time, either themselves demanding sums of the 
bank, or directing the bank, by means of checks, to pay specified 
sums to others. But experience has taught the bank that if it 
keeps on hand a -reserve fund equal to from five to about thirty- 
five per cent of the sums for which it is liable to depositors, it 
will ordinarily be able to meet all the demands for cash which 
depositors will be likely ,to make upon it. The bank may then 
loan out to business men the remainder of the money deposited 
with it. This not only encourages production, but it allows the 
bank to secure a reward for its services. This reward is in the 
form of interest paid by those who borrow of the bank. 

382. The nature of bank credit. — When an individual actually 
deposits with a bank $100 in cash, the bank becomes owner of 
the $100, and in turn writes down on its books the promise to 
pay to the depositor, as he shall direct, amounts totalling $100. 
The depositor receives a check book, and may draw part or all 
of the $100, as he likes. 

Now it may happen that an individual may wish to increase 
his checking account at the bank, but that he has no actual 
cash with which to make a deposit with the bank. In this case 
he may give the bank his promissory note, together with stocks, 
bonds, or other forms of wealth, which the bank holds as secur¬ 
ity. In return, the bank credits him with a “deposit.” 
This means that the bank extends its credit to the individual, by 

1 Throughout the remainder of this chapter the word “ bank ” 
should be taken as referring to the commercial bank. 


CREDIT AND BANKING 


317 

undertaking to honor checks for sums not actually received from 
the depositor. 

The bank has received valuable security from the borrower 
and hence feels justified in extending him a deposit credit. But, 
why does a bank feel safe in undertaking to pay out sums of money 
which it does not actually have in its vaults? The answer is 
that the bank attempts to keep on hand a reserve fund sufficient 
to meet all demands for cash which may be made upon it. If 
the reserve fund is relatively large, the bank will ordinarily loan 
its credit freely. If the cash reserve is relatively low, the con¬ 
servative bank may refuse further loans, on the grounds that 
its cash reserve is too low to justify the acceptance of additional 
obligations. The only safe alternative to this is for the bank in 
some way to increase its reserve fund, and then proceed to extend 
the amount of credit justified by this increased reserve. 

383. Dangers of bank credit. — The integrity of these various 
operations rests upon the confidence which people have in the 
bank’s ability to make good its promises. Confidence in the 
deposit credit of a bank exists when the past experience of depos¬ 
itors has taught them that the bank in question will habitually 
exchange either coin or bank notes for checks. Bank notes are 
ordinarily accepted in the place of coin, because people believe 
the credit of the bank issuing those notes to be so firmly established 
that the bank would be able and willing to exchange coin for its 
notes, upon demand. 

A bank is enabled to meet these obligations promptly, it should 
be remembered, because it keeps on hand, against the demands 
of depositors, a reserve fund of cash, or securities which by law 
it is allowed to count as cash. If all of the depositors of a bank 
suddenly and simultaneously demanded the full amount of their 
deposits in coin, the bank would be unable to accommodate them; 
as a matter of fact, business men normally leave in the bank 
that share of their deposits which they do not actually need. 
So long as men have confidence in a bank, they will prefer checks 
and bank notes to the less convenient coin, unless they need 
coin for some special purpose. 

If properly managed a bank is a profitable business for everyone 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


318 

concerned. But even though properly managed, a bank may 
occasionally find itself in a precarious position. There are few 
matters which the average person comprehends as vaguely as 
banking, and few things which more vitally interest him than 
the safety of his money. These two facts combine to render 
banking extremely sensitive to every rumor of unsoundness. The 
careful regulation of banking by law is therefore necessary. 

384. The national banking system. — The Civil War plunged 
our government into serious financial straits. To improve the 
finances of the Federal government there was created, in 1863, 
a system of national banks. The original act of 1863 is still the 
basis of our banking system, though it has since been modified 
a number of times, notably in 1913. 

We speak of a “national banking system,” but as a matter 
of fact this term is inexact. From the beginning of their history, 
the so-called national banks were “national” only in the sense 
that they were chartered by the Federal government, and were 
subject to examination by Federal inspectors. These national 
banks constituted no definite system: they transacted business 
much as other banks did, they had no branches, and they had 
little to do with one another. There was little team-work, and 
no effective leadership, so that in time of a threatened panic 
the different parts of the “system” worked at cross-purposes 
instead of as a unit. 

385. Why a banking system must be elastic. — A good bank¬ 
ing system will be elastic, i.e. it will respond promptly to the 
varying needs of business. Money and credit constitute a mech¬ 
anism by means of which business is handled, just as the labor 
force of a factory constitutes a means of handling the output of 
the factory. If the output of the factory increases, a larger labor 
force is needed; if the output dwindles, fewer laborers are needed. 
Similarly, if business increases in volume, an increased amount 
of money and credit is necessary to handle the increased volume 
of business. If, on the other hand, business declines, the volume 
of money and credit ought to decline also. Otherwise, there will 
be so much money and credit in circulation, relatively to the 
amount of goods, that high prices will result. 


CREDIT AND BANKING 


319 


High prices will result for the following reason: Money and 
credit are used to exchange against goods. As a general propo¬ 
sition, all the available goods in a community are in a process 
of exchanging against all of the available money and credit in 
the community. If goods are relatively few and money and 
credit are relatively plentiful, a small amount of goods can 
command a large amount of money and credit, i.e. the goods 
will sell for high prices. A sound banking system, therefore, will 
allow an expansion of money and credit instruments when busi¬ 
ness is booming, and will permit the contraction of the mech¬ 
anism of exchange when business is growing dull. 

The old national banking system was inelastic in two ways: 
first, it provided an inelastic supply of deposit credit; second, 
it provided an inelastic supply of currency or bank notes. 

386 . Inelasticity of deposit credit (reserves).—It will be 
recalled that the amount of loans which a bank may make depends 
upon the maintenance of an adequate reserve fund. From this it 
follows that the larger the reserve fund the more loans the bank 
will feel justified in making. Similarly, if the reserve fund shrinks, 
sound banking demands that loans be curtailed. Keeping these 
facts in mind, there were two reasons why the supply of deposit 
credit was inelastic before 1913. 

In the first place, individual banks kept only a part of their 
reserves actually in their vaults. The remainder, and sometimes 
the larger part, of their reserves was maintained in the form of 
deposits in other banks. Banks in towns and small cities habit¬ 
ually kept part of their reserves in the form of deposits in the 
banks of large cities, and the latter in turn kept part of their 
reserves in the banks of New York City, the financial center of 
the country. Hence the cash reserves of the country tended to 
collect in New York, where they were utilized by New York 
banks as a basis for extending loans. 

This was a dangerous arrangement. In the fall of the year 
large amounts of cash were demanded in the West, in order to 
pay farm hands and otherwise “move the crops.” At such times 
the small western banks had to demand their deposits in larger 
banks, while these in turn had to call for their deposits in the 


3 20 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


New York banks. The New York banks were often embarrassed 
by these demands, because they made a practice of fully utilizing 
the funds left with them, as a basis for extending loans. The 
call in the West for cash meant a curtailment of these loans 
with a consequent demoralization of eastern money markets. 

In the second place, individual banks were unable to extend 
loans to customers beyond the point justified by the amount of 
reserves in their vaults, or deposited to their credit in other banks. 
A bank with a total reserve of $10,000 might feel justified in loan¬ 
ing its credit to the extent of $100,000, but in case demands for 
additional loans were made upon it, sound banking practice would 
oblige it to refuse accommodation. Otherwise it might later find 
itself unable to get enough cash to pay out against claims made 
in the form of checks. This practice of curtailing loans when 
reserves were depleted was demoralizing to business, since the 
disappointed customer might find his entire business blocked, 
and this in turn would inconvenience or seriously injure all those 
who were connected with him in a business way. Before 1913, 
each bank stood as a unit, and when its reserves were depleted 
it could not secure temporary aid from other banks. There was 
no centralized control, and no method whereby national banks 
might secure help of one another. 

387. Inelasticity of currency (bank notes).—We have seen 
that an increased volume of business demands an increased volume 
of money and credit. In the previous section it was pointed out 
that before 1913 the volume of deposit credit in this country was 
inelastic. We must now notice that bank notes, ox paper currency, 
are just as truly a part of the volume of money and credit as is 
deposit credit, and we must note, also, that just as deposit credit 
was inelastic before 1913, so the issue of bank notes was inelastic. 
Previous to 1913 it often happened that the supply of bank notes 
was smallest when business was expanding, and that the issue of 
bank notes increased during dull business periods. This state¬ 
ment requires some explanation. 

The Act of 1863 provided that National banks might issue 
bank notes only after depositing in the Federal Treasury an 
amount of United States government bonds sufficient to rendei 


CREDIT AND BANKING 


321 


the bank notes absolutely safe. Naturally, the banks made 
heavy purchases of bonds when the bond market was depressed, 
and tended to purchase relatively few bonds when those securities 
were high in price. Since the only reason for purchasing bonds 
was to enable the banks to issue notes, more notes were issued 
when bonds were low in price, and fewer were issued when bonds 
were high. Unfortunately, the same general conditions that 
stimulated business also tended to raise the price of bonds, while 
the causes of slack business often operated to lower bond prices. 
This means that when business was expanding, and more notes 
were needed, bonds were so high that few were purchased, and 
consequently few notes were issued. Similarly, when business 
was dull, more bonds were purchased, and more notes issued. 

388. The panic of 1907. —The panic of 1907 attracted atten¬ 
tion to these two great defects of the old national banking system, 
i.e. the inelasticity of deposit credit and the inelasticity of currency. 
In the fall of 1907, a bumper crop caused Western banks to make 
unusually large demands for cash upon the New York banks. 
Unfortunately, this depletion of reserves came at precisely the 
time when the demand upon New York banks for loans was 
greatest. There was thus increased pressure exerted upon New 
York banks for loans, but less justification for extending them. 
In response to the pressure for loans, some New York banks 
over-extended their credit. In October the inability of a few 
prominent banks to pay in cash all of the demands made upon 
them started a series of bank “runs.” Even solvent institutions 
were unable to meet their obligations promptly and many failures 
occurred. A large number of banks were technically insolvent, 
that is to say, their assets were invested in forms which prevented 
their immediate conversion into cash, so that for the time being 
demands for cash could not be met. The lack of an effective 
banking system prevented these banks from securing temporary 
aid from banks more favorably situated. 

389. Reform.—The panic of 1907 stimulated financial ex¬ 
perts to attempt to remedy the defects of our banking system. 
In 1908 a monetary commission was appointed to investigate 
banking experience at home and abroad. As the result of this 


3 22 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


investigation it appeared advisable to establish a system which 
should secure some of the advantages of such centralized banking 
systems as have long existed in many European countries. A 
single central government bank was at first recommended by 
experts, but this was deemed politically inexpedient. In view of 
this fact resort was had to a compromise between a centralized 
and a decentralized system. This compromise‘was effected by 
the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. 

390. Framework of the Federal Reserve System. — The Act 
of 1913 is administered by the Federal Reserve Board, consisting 
of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Cur¬ 
rency, ex officio , and five other members appointed for ten years 
by the President. The country is divided into twelve districts, 
in each of which there is located a Federal Reserve bank. In 
each district every National bank must subscribe six per cent 
of its capital and surplus for stock in the Federal Reserve bank, 
and thus become a “member” bank. State banks and trust 
companies may, upon the fulfilment of certain conditions, be¬ 
come member banks. Each Federal Reserve bank is governed by 
a board of nine directors, six of whom are elected by the member 
banks of its district, and three of whom are appointed by the 
Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve banks are bankers’ 
banks, that is, they do not ordinarily deal directly with individuals, 
but with member banks only. 

391. Elasticity of deposit credit (reserves).—The piling up 
of bank reserves in New York is impossible under the Federal 
Reserve system. The reserves of any member bank do not ordi¬ 
narily move beyond the district, for a member bank may count 
as legal reserve only those funds which it has placed on de¬ 
posit in the Federal Reserve bank of its district. There exists 
what may be called district centralization of reserves; that is 
to say, all of the legal reserves of all the member banks of a 
particular district are concentrated in the Federal Reserve bank 
of the district, and can be utilized as a unit by that Federal 
Reserve bank. If in time of stress the total reserves of the dis¬ 
trict are insufficient, the Federal Reserve Board may arrange for 
the temporary transfer of surplus funds from one Federal Reserve 


CREDIT AND BANKING 323 

district to another. This secures one of the most important 
advantages of a central bank without actual centralization. 

Elasticity of deposit credit is also provided for in the “redis¬ 
counting device.” A bank discounts commercial paper when it 
loans an individual, say, $980, on the security of a $1000 promissory 
note. The $20 represents an amount which the bank counts 
out, or discounts, as payment for the service. A further operation, 
long known in Europe as rediscounting, was authorized by the 
Act of 1913. When the reserves of a member bank are too low 
to justify further extensions of deposit credit, the bank can send 
certain types of discounted paper to the Federal Reserve bank 
of its district, and receive in return either a deposit credit or 
a special form of paper currency called Federal Reserve notes. 

392. Elasticity of currency (banknotes).—When, in return 
for discounted commercial paper, the Federal Reserve bank ex¬ 
tends a deposit credit to the member bank, the deposit credit of 
the member bank is rendered more elastic. When, on the other 
hand, the Federal Reserve bank sends the member bank Federal 
Reserve notes in exchange for discounted paper, the result is a 
certain elasticity in the currency. 

The Federal Reserve notes are a new type of currency. They 
are secured by the maintenance, in the vaults of the Federal 
Reserve banks, of a forty per cent gold reserve for their redemp¬ 
tion. Since these notes are issued to member banks in return 
for rediscounted paper, the expansion of business and the 
resultant tendency of member banks to send discounted paper 
to the Federal Reserve bank for rediscount causes the volume of 
Federal Reserve notes to expand. When the need for additional 
currency has subsided, there is an arrangement whereby a certain 
amount of the Federal Reserve notes may be withdrawn from 
circulation. This is important, for if the amount of money in 
circulation continues to be enormous after business has declined, 
inflation and high prices result. A truly elastic banking system 
necessitates contraction as well as expansion. 

393. The outlook. — On the whole, it would seem that the 
Federal Reserve System is a happy compromise between the 
centralized banking systems of Europe and the highly decentral- 


3 2 4 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


ized system existing in this country prior to 1913. The Federal 
Reserve system allows us to secure the main benefits of a great 
central bank without the political difficulties attendant upon the 
existence of such a bank. It does a great deal to make elastic 
our supply of money and credit. The Federal Reserve Board 
can mobilize the entire banking strength of the country in time 
of stress, so that the strength of one member bank is the strength 
of the whole system. Since it controls not only a substantial 
proportion of the bank reserves of the country, but also the 
privilege of note issue on the security of rediscounted paper, 
the Federal Reserve Board can administer the member banks 
as a unit. The system may not eliminate panics, but it is fair to 
expect that it will reduce their number and lessen their violence. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Distinguish between money and credit. 

2. Name and distinguish between the four types of banks. 

3. What is the primary function of a commerical bank? 

4. Explain clearly the nature of bank credit. 

5. If the cash reserve of a bank is low, and the bank is confronted 

with demands for loans, in what two ways may it dispose of 
these demands? 

6. What dangers attend the extension of bank credit? 

7. Describe the national banking system. 

8. Why should a banking system be elastic? 

9. Explain the inelasticity of deposit credit before 1913. 

10. Discuss the inelasticity of bank note issue under the old national 

banking system. 

11. What was the significance of the panic of 1907? 

12. Outline the framework of the Federal Reserve System. 

13. Explain in detail how the Act of 1913 provides for elastic deposit 

credit. 

14. Explain the “rediscounting device.” 

15. How does the Act of 1913 provide for an elastic bank note issue? 

16. What is the present outlook with respect to our banking system? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxxi. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xv. 

3. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter ix. 


CREDIT AND BANKING 


325 


4. Seager, Principles of Economics , chapter xx. 

5. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the TJnited States, chapter xxx. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Outline the financial powers of Congress. (Guitteau, page 361.) 

2. Describe the First and Second United States banks. (Guitteau, 

pages 369-370-) 

3. What were the main functions of the national banks? (Guitteau, 

pages 371-373-) 

4. What are collateral loans? (Seager, pages 346-347.) 

5. What are the limitations upon the use of bank credit? (Seager, 

pages 352 - 353 -) 

6. In what ways are depositors in national banks protected? (Seager, 

pages 358-359-) 

7. What is the Independent Treasury system? (Ely, pages 297-298.) 

8. Explain the relation of “moving the crops” to bank credit. (Ely, 

pages 298-299.) 

9. How does the Bank of England secure elastic reserves? (Ely, 

page 302.) 

10. What was the Aldrich-Vreeland Act? (Ely, pages 305-306.) 

11. Enumerate some of the powers of the Federal Reserve banks. 

(Fetter, page 121.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Write to a number of banks in your vicinity asking for literature 

describing the varied services which they offer the public. 

2. Outline some of the more important banking laws of your state. 

3. What are the limits of the Federal Reserve district in which you 

live? In what city is the Reserve Bank located? Why do you 
suppose it is located in this city? 

4. List the banks in your vicinity that are members of the Federal 

Reserve system. 

5. Interview an official of a bank belonging to the Federal Reserve 

System upon the advantages of such membership. 

6. Interview a friendly official of a bank which does not belong to 

the system. Try to ascertain the reasons why this bank does 
not belong to the Federal Reserve System. 

11 

7. Nature and function of money. (Ely, Outlines of Economics , 

chapter xiv; Fetter, Modern Economic Problems , chapter iii.) 

8. Functions of a bank. (White, Money and Banking, part iii, 

chapter i; Fetter, Modern Economic Problems , chapter vii; 
Fiske, The Modern Bank, chapter iv.) 


326 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

9. The bank statement. (White, Money and Banking , part iii, 
chapter ii.) 

10. The clearing house. (White, Money and Banking, part iii, chap¬ 

ter iii; Fiske, The Modern Bank , chapter x.) 

11. The credit department.of a modern bank. (Fiske, The Modern 

Bank, chapter xvii.) 

12. Bank reserves. (Fiske, The Modern Bank , chapter xxii.) 

13. Greenbacks. (White, Money and Banking, part ii, chapter iii.) 

14. The check system. (Dunbar, Theory and History of Banking, 

chapter iv.) 

15. Colonial finance. (Dewey, Financial History of the United States, 

chapter i.) 

16. The First United States Bank. (White, Money and Banking, 

part iii, chapter vi.) 

17. The Second United States Bank. (White, Money and Banking, 

part iii, chapter vii.) 

18. The national banking system. (White, Money and Banking, 

part iii, chapter xiv; Dewey, Financial History of the United 
States, chapter iv; Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chap¬ 
ter viii.) 

19. The panic of 1907. (Coman, Industrial History of the United 

States, pages 335 - 337 ; Noyes, Forty Years of American Finance, 
chapter xv; White, Money and Banking, part iii, chapter xviii.) 

20. The Bank of England. (Dunbar, Theory and History of Banking, 

chapter viii.) 

21. The Bank of France. (Dunbar, Theory and History of Banking, 

chapter ix.) 

22. The German bank. (Dunbar, Theory and History of Banking, 

chapter x.) 

23. Organization of the Federal Reserve System. ( Annals, vol. lxiii, 

pages 88-97.) 

24. The Federal Reserve act and foreign trade. ( Annals, vol. lxiii, 

pages 132-141; Kemmerer, The A B C of the Federal Reserve 
System, chapter ix.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

25. Should we adopt a centralized banking system such as exists in 

England, France and Germany? (See the Debaters’ Handbook 
Series.) 

26. Should all State banks and trust companies be required by law 

to become members of the Federal Reserve System? 

27. What would be the best method of acquainting the general public 

with the fundamental principles of banking? , 


CHAPTER XXXII 


TAXATION 

394. The increasing cost of government. — In the United 
States, as in other modern civilized countries, the cost of gov¬ 
ernment is steadily increasing. The settlement of the Great 
West, the depletion of natural resources and the transition from a 
primitive to an industrial economy have obliged our government 
to pay out larger and larger sums for the services of public officials, 
and for the materials and commodities used for public purposes. 
The growth of our cities and the increasing complexity of our in¬ 
dustrial life have greatly increased the number of activities which 
it is to our advantage to carry on, not individually, but collectively 
or through the agency of government. The spread of altruism 
and the widening of the concept of social service have caused 
the extension of governmental activity in such new fields as social 
insurance, recreation, and public health. Altogether, our total 
government expenditure is more than seventeen times as large 
as it was a half century ago, while the per capita expenditure is 
more than five times as great. 

395. Sources of public revenue. — Writers on taxation gen¬ 
erally enumerate as sources of public revenue, public industries, 
the public domain, gifts, confiscations, fees, special assessments, 
fines, and taxes. At various times and in different countries of 
the world, all of these have been important, but in the United 
States at the present time taxes are by far the most important 
source of public revenue. 

A tax may be defined as a compulsory contribution exacted 
from the individual by the government, for the purpose of defray¬ 
ing expenses incurred for the common welfare. The government 
does not return to the individual taxpayer a definite commodity 
or service. In return for taxes the government indeed renders 

327 


328 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


many valuable services, such as public education, the safeguard¬ 
ing of health, and protection from domestic violence and foreign 
war. But on account of the collective character of these services, 
no attempt is made to apportion the payment exacted of the indi¬ 
vidual to the benefit which he as an individual receives. 

Until recently our national government secured most of its 
revenue from taxes on imports, and from excises or internal taxes 
on such commodities as tobacco and liquor. Since national pro¬ 
hibition went into effect (1919), the Federal revenues are derived 
mainly from taxes on imports, from income and inheritance taxes, 
and from taxes on corporations. 

More than three fourths of the receipts of state and local gov¬ 
ernments are derived from the general property tax, the amounts 
collected from other sources being as yet relatively unimportant. 
The general property tax is supposed to be levied upon all the 
property in the possession of taxpayers, though as we shall see 
a little later, this tax works out very badly. The old “poll” or 
head tax was formerly important, but at present less than two 
thirds of one per cent of state and local revenues are derived 
from this source. In most states it is being abandoned because 
of its small yield, and because of the difficulty and expense in 
collecting it. 


A. Defects in American Taxation 

396. Lack of a tax system. — The fundamental defect of 
American taxation is the lack of a definite and coordinated system. 
The tax laws of most states have been radically changed during 
the last few decades, and are still in a process of development. 
In many states old taxes are being modified or abandoned, and 
new taxes adopted. But too often this is being done without 
regard for the taxation reform of other states or of the Federal 
government. As a result, the tax burden weighs unequally upon 
different classes, while between state and state, or between state 
and Federal government, there is an overlapping of tax power. 
The effect of this overlapping is to create undue confusion, and 
to demoralize both tax officials and taxpayers. 


TAXATION 


329 


397. Legal restrictions upon taxing power. — A serious defect 
of American taxation is the lack of correspondence between 
taxing power and fiscal needs. Let us inquire into this. 

The Federal government has important functions to perform, 
but has practically unlimited taxing power. So far as the national 
government is concerned, the problem of finding sources of revenue 
is relatively simple. 

The functions assumed by the state governments are as yet 
relatively few and inexpensive, while the power of the state 
to tax is but slightly abridged by the Federal Constitution. States 
have relatively little difficulty in making both ends meet. 

Local governments, and especially municipal governments, 
have a large number of functions which are increasingly impor¬ 
tant. Of the total government expenditure in this country, about 
35 per cent is made by the Federal government, 10 per cent by 
the state governments, and 55 per cent by the local governments. 
But whereas Federal and state governments have relatively 
adequate taxing powers, the taxing powers of local governments 
are narrowly restricted by the state constitution and statutes. 
Such local functions as health, public school education, and recre¬ 
ation are constantly demanding greater expenditures, yet local 
governments as yet have few opportunities for securing necessary 
funds. 

398. Defects in tax assessment. — The defects of tax assess¬ 
ment are clearly illustrated in the workings of the general prop¬ 
erty tax, called by some authorities the worst tax in the civilized 
worid. The basis of levy is the work of local assessors, who are 
generally elective. The assessors estimate the value of millions 
of dollars’ worth of property, and their estimates are the basis of 
the tax rates for not only township and county, but generally 
for the state as well. Incapable and dishonest assessors often 
work injustice by underestimating the value of some forms of 
property, and overestimating the value of other forms. In addi¬ 
tion, political pressure is brought to bear upon the assessor to 
cause him to undervalue the property of the township or county 
as a whole, so that the local unit will bear a relatively small share 
of the taxes of the state. 


330 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


The estimates of the local assessors are commonly subject 
to correction by a county, and sometimes by a state, board of 
equalization. The duty of such a board is to make assessments 
uniform and just, but notwithstanding the efforts of these bodies, 
unequal and unfair assessments have persisted. 

399 . Difficulty of taxing intangible property. — Where taxa¬ 
tion is on the basis of assessment, it often happens that the tax 
burden rests unequally upon different forms of property. Pro¬ 
perty in tangible form, such as land, cattle, and houses, is easily 
discoverable, and hence cannot easily evade the payment of taxes. 
But intangible property, such as bonds, stocks, or mortgage, can 
easily be hidden, so that owners of this type of property often 
evade their share of the tax burden. 

This evasion is often practiced in the case of the general prop¬ 
erty tax, which is intended to reach both tangible and intangible 
property. The general property tax worked well a century ago 
when the greater share of wealth existed in tangible form, be¬ 
cause local assessors could easily locate such things as land and 
live stock. But the rapid development of corporations, bringing 
with it a rapid increase in the proportion of intangible forms of 
property, has rendered the general property tax grossly unjust. 
The assessors of the general property tax cannot easily discover 
intangible property, unless taxpayers cooperate with them. The 
all too frequent lack of such cooperation causes a dispropor¬ 
tionate share of the tax burden to fall upon tangible prop¬ 
erty. The general property tax is haphazard, ineffective, and 
demoralizing to both tax officials and taxpayers. 

400 . Double taxation. — By double taxation is meant the tax¬ 
ation of an individual or different individuals twice for the same 
thing. Double taxation is of two kinds. 

The first type of double taxation is illustrated by the taxation 
of both tangible property and the paper claim upon that property. 
For example, a state may tax a land-owner on his land, and also 
tax another resident of the state on the mortgage which he holds 
against that land. Or it may happen that a state will tax the 
land, buildings and other tangible equipment of a corporation, 
and at the same time tax those of its residents who hold stock 


TAXATION 


331 


in that corporation, i.e. individuals who hold paper evidence of 
ownership in the tangible equipment of the corporation. More 
generally, however, this type of double taxation arises when the 
holder of the paper claim resides in one state, while the tangible 
property lies in another state. In such a case, it is common for 
one state to tax the paper claim, and for the other state to tax 
the property itself. This type of double taxation is manifestly 
unfair, and often imposes a ruinous burden upon property. 

The second type of double taxation is illustrated by the over¬ 
lapping of similar taxes between state and state, or between 
Federal and state governments. Because it is the practice of 
most states to seek revenue without regard to the taxing activities 
of other states, or of the Federal government, it may happen 
that corporations, incomes, or inheritances are taxed by more than 
one agency of government. If a scientific and coordinated tax 
system were deliberately to provide for this, the supposition 
would be that such taxation were reasonable and just, because 
intended to bear with equal weight upon all forms of property 
in the taxable class. But because such taxation is haphazard, 
it bears with unequal weight upon corporations and individuals, 
and is therefore unjust. 

Moreover, it encourages the evasion of tax burdens. Individuals 
and corporations sometimes migrate from localities or states in 
which they are subject to double taxation, to localities or states 
in which the danger of such taxation is less. This in turn has the 
evil effect of tempting states and municipalities to neglect taxes 
on corporations, incomes, and inheritances for the sake of attract¬ 
ing wealthy individuals and large industrial organizations from 
neighboring areas. 

B. Some Suggested Tax Reforms 

401. Ideals in taxation. — Summarizing the views of the more 
generally accepted writers on taxation, we may say that the 
following are the basic ideals in taxation: 

Taxes should take as little as possible from the people and still 
meet the needs of government. Taxes should be uniform, that is, 
all taxable articles of the same class should be levied upon at the 


332 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


same rate. It is also important that the time, manner, and amount 
of the tax should not be arbitrary, but that the individual’s con¬ 
venience as regards the terms of payment should be considered. 
From the standpoint of the government, taxes should be easy to 
administer and economical to collect. 

A good tax system will be elastic, so that taxes may easily be 
increased or decreased, according as the revenue needs of the 
government change. The ability to pay ought to have some influ¬ 
ence upon the extent to which an individual is taxed. Taxes 
should adapt themselves somewhat to the local sentiment as to 
what is expedient or socially desirable. 

Finally, taxation policies should be systematized and 
coordinated. 

402. Essentials of a tax system. — The construction of an 
ideal tax system in this country would involve three steps. 

In the first place, each branch of government should be enabled 
to secure revenues actually needed for justifiable purposes. In 
this regard the greatest need is to increase the taxing powers of 
our municipalities. This is imperative if the cities of the future 
are to care for their citizens properly. 

A second fundamental step relates to the separation of taxing 
power. Each branch of government should pretty well confine 
its use of the taxing power to definite types of taxable wealth. 
The Federal government, for example, might secure most of its 
revenue from import duties, excises, an income tax, and stamp 
taxes of various kinds. Many taxation experts believe that the 
states ought to confine themselves mainly to license, corporation, 
inheritance, and, possibly, income taxes. Local governments 
might well secure most of their revenue from taxes on franchises, 
licenses, and real estate. Such a separation of taxing power 
might aid in the adjustment of fiscal needs to taxing power, 
as well as helping to remedy the evil of double taxation. However, 
a complete separation of taxing powers is not necessarily desirable, 
and certainly it is not practicable, for there is a growing tendency 
toward duplication in income, inheritance, and other taxes. At 
the present time, for example, not only the Federal government, 
but many of the states levy income and inheritance taxes. 


TAXATION 


333 


A third fundamental step would be the coordination of local, 
state, and Federal taxing authorities. The central aim of such 
coordination should be so to distribute tax burdens that no form 
of taxable wealth would escape its just burden, and so that no 
form of wealth would be subjected to unduly heavy taxation. 
There is a growing feeling that to prevent double taxation and 
similar evils, all local taxing bodies ought to be coordinated under 
the state authorities, while for similar reasons the Federal govern¬ 
ment ought to have some measure of direction or control over 
that share of state taxation which is interstate in its effects. 

403. Reform or abolition of the general property tax. — The 
reform of state and local taxation logically begins with the general 
property tax. 

In many states attempts are being made to reform this tax. 
In some cases “tax ferrets” are employed to discover tax evaders, 
a policy which may easily lead to corruption and favoritism. In 
other states the conviction is growing that local elective assessors 
ought to be supplanted by a permanent corps of state assessors, 
appointed under the merit system. This would reduce the danger 
of unequal and unfair assessments. 

In other states there is a tendency to abandon the general 
property tax altogether. In New York, Massachusetts, Pennsyl¬ 
vania, and other states, there is a marked tendency to turn over 
the general property tax to local governing bodies. In such cases 
it is intended that the state shall depend for most of its revenue 
upon income, corporation, inheritance, and license taxes. 

The future will doubtless see a more widespread tendency 
toward the reform or abolition of the general property tax. In 
some states, however, such changes in the taxation system require 
constitutional amendment, and constitutional amendment is often 
a slow and tedious process. 

404. Reform in land taxation. — Coupled with plans for the 
reform or abolition of the general property tax are proposals for 
the reform of land taxation. A primary aim of these proposals, 
some of which suggest elements of the single tax doctrine, is 
to secure a more correct assessment of land values. In many 
Cases a state does not now tax the holder of a mortgage when 


334 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the mortgaged land is also within the state and thus directly sub¬ 
ject to taxation. This is a desirable development, but we ought 
to go still further, so that the holder of a mortgage would not be 
taxed whether or not he lived in the same state as the owner of 
the land. A mortgage is obviously not social wealth, but a paper 
claim on wealth, and this wealth ought not to be taxed twice. 

Some authorities believe that the tax rate on land ought sub¬ 
stantially to be increased, when it appears that such land is being 
held for speculative purposes. To encourage improvements, it is 
also proposed that certain permanent improvements on land be 
temporarily exempted from taxation. Lastly, it would appear 
socially desirable to levy special taxes on urban sites, so as to 
secure for the community some share of the future unearned 
increment. 

405. The income tax. — All taxes ultimately come out of 
income, but when we speak of an income tax we refer to a direct 
levy upon income as it arises, chiefly in the form of wages, salaries, 
and profits. A Federal income tax was levied during the Civil 
War, but in the nineties the Supreme Court held that such a tax 
violated the constitutional provision that Congress shall not lay 
direct taxes except in proportion to the population of the states. 
In 1913 the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution permitted 
Congress to lay and collect taxes on incomes without apportion¬ 
ment among the several states, and without regard to any census 
or enumeration. 

Since 1913 Congress has passed several income tax laws, and 
a number of the states have also adopted this form of taxation. 
The essential features of these laws are as follows. Incomes below 
a certain amount are exempt from taxation. The limit of untax- 
able income is raised for married persons living together. In 
calculating their net income, individuals may make allowance 
for debts, business expenses, and certain other items. Upon all 
taxable income above a certain minimum there is then levied a 
flat rate, constituting a “normal” tax. Where incomes exceed 
a certain amount, there is an additional tax. Thus the income 
tax is said to be “progressive,” that is, the larger the income the 
higher the tax rate. 


TAXATION 


335 


Many benefits are claimed for the income tax. It falls upon 
those best able to pay, and it is not easily evaded or shifted by 
the person upon whom it is levied. It is elastic and can readily 
be increased or reduced according as revenue needs change. Its 
progressive character is a feature which is considered socially 
desirable. 

The chief defects of the income tax are two. In the first place, 
the effectiveness of the tax depends upon the willingness of the 
individual to declare his full income. This is not always done, 
especially where the income tax is regarded as an undue inter¬ 
ference in the private affairs of the individual. Second, wealthy 
individuals often migrate to states where there is either no in¬ 
come tax or only a relatively light one. This last defect of course 
applies only to the state income tax. 

406 . The inheritance tax. — Taxes upon inheritances have 
come into prominence since the opening of the twentieth century. 
Since 1916 the Federal government has levied an inheritance tax. 
At the present time most of the states also levy this form of tax 
upon property passing by will or under the inheritance laws of the 
state. The essential features of the tax are everywhere the same. 
Small legacies are generally exempt. Legacies to direct heirs 
are either exempt, or are taxed at a lower rate than are legacies 
to collateral heirs. The rates are progressive, that is to say, they 
increase with the size of the legacy. 

Many benefits are claimed for the inheritance tax. It brings 
in a large revenue, and falls upon those who are best able to pay. 
The tax cannot be shifted and it cannot easily be evaded. It 
is easily assessed and collected, because all wills must pass through 
the probate court. It is held that the state has a social claim upon 
the property of an individual who has amassed wealth under the 
protection of its laws, and that this property ought not to be 
transferred intact to those who did not aid in its accumulation. 

If carried too far the inheritance tax would undoubtedly dis¬ 
courage the accumulation of wealth, but tax authorities are al¬ 
ready guarding against this danger. On the whole, the inherit¬ 
ance tax is an important addition to our tax system. Its scope 
is being rapidly extended: rates are being raised, the principle 


336 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

• 

of progression is being more frequently applied, and exemptions 
allowed direct heirs are being reduced. The tax is increasingly 
used in the effort to redistribute unearned wealth, though the 
extent to which this is true depends very largely upon local 
sentiment. 

407 . Corporation taxes. — The rapid growth of American 
industry has been accompanied by an enormous increase in the 
number and importance of industrial corporations. The proper 
taxation of these bodies is now challenging the attention of both 
state and Federal governments. 

The difficulties of taxing corporations are two: First, how to 
prevent that form of double taxation which results from the fact 
that several states may levy taxes of varying weight upon inter¬ 
state corporations. Second, how to prevent that form of double 
taxation which imposes a burden both upon the tangible property 
of the corporation and upon the stocks and bonds representing 
ownership in that tangible property. 

A number of taxation experts suggest meeting the last-named 
difficulty by exempting from taxation stocks, bonds, and other 
securities, and by imposing, instead, a tax directly upon the 
capitalization of the corporation itself. In the case of corpora¬ 
tions which are local and of moderate size, this might be effected 
by the reform of tax laws within a single state. Where, on the 
other hand, corporations are distinctly interstate in character, 
such reform would require either a careful coordination of the tax 
laws of the several states, or a corporation tax which should be 
purely Federal in character. 

The first difficulty mentioned above would likewise have to be 
met, either by the coordination of state tax systems, or by al¬ 
lowing taxes on interstate corporations to be levied solely by 
the Federal government. 

It is claimed by some economists that the virtual impossibility 
of effectively coordinating the tax laws of the various states 
renders it imperative that all interstate corporations be taxed 
solely by the Federal government. In such a case the Federal 
government would be taxing interstate corporations partly for 
its own benefit, and partly as the agent of the various states. 


TAXATION 


337 


It is said also that such a Federal tax should be levied on corpo¬ 
rations at the source, i.e. upon capitalization rather than upon 
stocks and bonds. Being applied at the source, it would reach 
all forms of corporation wealth. It would be easy and economical 
to administer. So far as corporations are concerned, a purely 
Federal tax on interstate corporations might prevent both forms 
of double taxation. 

Even though the states consented to a purely Federal tax on 
interstate corporations, however, it might prove difficult for state 
and Federal governments to agree upon a fair division of the 
joint revenues derived from such a tax. 

Questions on the Text 

0 

1. Why is the cost of government increasing? 

2. Name some sources of public revenue. 

3. What is a tax? 

4. What is the fundamental defect of American taxation? 

5. In what way is there an inadequate apportionment of taxing power 

to fiscal needs in American government? 

6. What is the chief difficulty of tax assessment? 

7. Why is it difficult to tax intangible property? 

8. Enumerate the fundamental defects of the general property tax. 

9. Distinguish between the two forms of double taxation. 

10. Outline some fundamental ideals in taxation. 

11. What are the three steps necessary in the formulation of a satis¬ 

factory tax system in this country? 

12. To what extent is the general property tax being reformed or 

abolished? 

13. Discuss the reform of land taxation. 

14. Describe the nature of the income tax. 

15. What are the benefits and defects of such a tax? 

16. Describe the inheritance tax. What are its benefits? What are 

its dangers? 

17. What are the two difficulties in the way of taxing corporations? 

What are some suggested methods of meeting these difficulties? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxxii. 

Or all of the following : 

2. Bullock, The Elements of Economics, chapter xv. 

3. Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xxxiv. 


338 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


4. Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter xvi. 

5. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xviL 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Classify the purposes of public expenditures. (Guitteau, pages 

187-188.) 

2. What is the “police function” of government? (Fetter, page 241). 

3. What is a franchise tax? (Guitteau, pages 201-202.) 

4. What is the “magic fund” delusion? (Bullock, page 370.) 

5. Distinguish between proportional, regressive, and progressive tax¬ 

ation. (Bullock, page 373.) 

6. What is an excess profits tax? (Bullock, pages 382-383.) 

7. What is the importance of the license tax? (Bullock, pages 392-393). 

8. Distinguish between direct and indirect taxation. (Ely, pages 

710-711.) * 

9. What are “taxes on transactions”? (Ely, pages 719-720.) 

10. What is meant by the shifting or incidence of taxation? (Fetter, 
pages 252-253.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Make a list of enterprises supported out of public funds and pro¬ 

viding services free to all, regardless of the payment of taxes. 

2. Discover which of the following taxes are levied in your state: 

general property tax, income tax, inheritance tax, poll tax, 
license tax, transaction tax, sales tax, luxury tax, mortgage tax, 
franchise tax, excess profits tax. 

3. Are tax assessors in your locality appointed or elected? Are there 

county or state boards of equalization in your state? How are 
these boards chosen? 

4. Interview a friendly tax assessor concerning the difficulties of 

determining property values. Does he believe that people 
systematically undervalue their own property? What proposals 
does he make for the reform of the present method of assessment? 

5. Interview a friendly taxpayer. What is his attitude toward the 

poll tax? the general property tax? the income tax? What 
proposals does he make for the reform of taxation in your state? 

6. The general property tax in your state. 

7. Status of the income tax in your state. 

8. Status of the inheritance tax in your state. 

9. The taxation of corporations in your state. 


TAXATION 


339 


ii 

10. Federal revenues. (Guitteau, Government and Politics in the 

United States, chapter xxix.) 

11. Public expenditures. (Ely, Outlines of Economics, chapter xxxi; 

Seager, Principles of Economics, chapter xxvi; Plehn, Intro¬ 
duction to Public Finance, Part II, chapter i; Bullock, Selected 
Articles on Public Finance, chapter iii; Ford, The Cost of Our 
National Government .) 

12. The power of Congress to tax. (Young, The New American 

Government and its Work, chapter v; Beard, American Govern¬ 
ment and Politics, chapter xiii.) 

13. Taxation in American cities. ( Annals , vol. xxviii, pages 155-172.) 

14. Personal taxes. (Fetter, Modern Economic Problems, chapter xviii.) 

15. The poll tax. (Bullock, Selected Articles on Public Finance, chap¬ 

ter x.) 

16. Breakdown of the general property tax. (Taussig, Principles of 

Economics, vol. ii, chapter lxix.) 

17. Protection against improper state taxation. (Young, The New 

American Government and its Work, chapter xxv.) 

18. Double taxation. (Seligman, Essays in Taxation, chapter iv.) 

19. The corporation tax. (Seligman, Essays in Taxation, chapters vi 

and vii.) 

20. Separation of state and local revenues. (Seligman, Essays in 

Taxation, chapter xi; Bullock, Selected Articles on Public Fi¬ 
nance, pages 445-460.) 

21. Excises. (Plehn, Introduction to Public Finance , chapter vi.) 

22. Customs duties. (Plehn, Introduction to Public Finance, chapter vii.) 

23. The excess profits tax. ( Annals , vol. lxxvii, pages 147-159.) 

24. The incidence of taxation. (Plehn, Introduction to Public Fi¬ 

nance, chapter xi.) 

25. Financing the United States in the World War. (Plehn, Intro¬ 

duction to Public Finance, Part iv; Annals, vol. lxxvii, all.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

26. As a principle of taxation, which is more important, the payment 

of taxes according to the benefit derived, or payment according 
to ability? 

27. What is the remedy when individuals conceal from the tax authori¬ 

ties the amount of their intangible wealth? 

28. Does the income tax constitute an undue interference in the 

private affairs of the individual? 

29. To what extent does the inheritance tax tend to discourage the 

accumulation of wealth? 


340 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


30. To what extent should the poor be taxed? 

31. Can the adequate taxation of corporations be secured without 

resorting to a corporation tax which shall be purely Federal 
in character? 

32. Should the national debt be paid? (See Bullock, Selected Articles 

on Public Finance , chapter xxiv.) 


B. Making Government Effective 


CHAPTER XXXIII 

WHO SHALL SHARE IN GOVERNMENT? 

408. Distinction between citizenship and the suffrage. — Citi¬ 
zenship implies membership in a nation. A citizen owes allegiance 
to his government, and in return is entitled to the fundamental 
advantages of organized government, such as the protection of 
life, liberty and property at home and abroad. Suffrage, on the 
other hand, is the privilege of sharing in government by the ex¬ 
ercise of the vote. Most voters are also citizens, but less than 
a third of the citizens of the United States are voters. Citizenship 
is determined by the Federal authorities, the Constitution de¬ 
claring that all persons born or naturalized in the United States 
are citizens thereof. The suffrage is a privilege which is controlled 
by the individual states, subject to certain regulations imposed 
by the Federal government. 

409. Significance of the suffrage. — In a representative democ¬ 
racy such as the United States, the question of the suffrage is 
of fundamental importance. Public officials are agents which 
have been chosen to administer the affairs of government. Every 
public official in the United States is either chosen directly by 
the people, or is chosen by agents who themselves have been 
selected at the polls. The right to vote is thus the right to share 
in the control of government. And not only are voters making 
rules and regulations for their own government, but they are 
governing those citizens to whom the suffrage has not been ex¬ 
tended. It is because of this double responsibility resting upon 
the American voter that a fundamental problem of effective 
government is concerned with the suffrage. 

410. Suffrage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. — 
In colonial times the American suffrage was narrowly restricted. 

34 i 


342 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Though the theory that all men were free and equal was known 
in political circles, the actual conduct of government was largely 
in the hands of the propertied classes. With a few exceptions, 
no Negro was allowed to vote. As a general rule, women were 
also debarred from the suffrage. Even white adults were denied 
the exercise of the suffrage unless they could meet certain property 
and religious qualifications. 

The Declaration of Independence laid emphasis upon the 
principle that governments derive their just powers from the 
consent of the governed. Nevertheless this principle was not 
held to apply to the internal politics of the American states, and 
so there was at this time no widespread feeling that all adults 
had an equal right to share in government. In an important 
sense, the American Revolution was fought to maintain the prin¬ 
ciple that England could not govern the colonies without their 
consent. But here again it should be noted that none of the 
states that won independence interpreted that principle to mean 
that all of their free adult citizens had a right to govern them¬ 
selves through the vote. Colonial standards of suffrage were 
largely carried over into our earlier national history, and in 1789 
probably less than five per cent of the American people were 
voters. Interpreted in terms of the suffrage, American democ¬ 
racy was still very narrowly restricted. 

411. Suffrage as a natural right. — According to the doctrine 
of natural rights, all men are born free and equal, and are entitled 
to certain fundamental rights of which they may not be deprived. 
Many of the colonists were familiar with this theory, but not 
until after 1800 did it constitute an important basis for maintain¬ 
ing that all adult white males were entitled to the suffrage. After 
the opening of the nineteenth century, however, it was more 
common for propertyless men to maintain that just as they had 
a natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, so 
they had a natural right to the suffrage. The principle that 
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the 
governed was by many interpreted to mean that men possessing 
property had no right to govern men who could not meet the 
property qualifications accompanying the suffrage. The cry of 


WHO SHALL SHARE IN GOVERNMENT? 


343 


“No taxation without representation,” was also raised in the 
interests of white adult males who paid taxes, but who were not 
allowed to vote. 

412 . Extension of the suffrage in the nineteenth century. — 

During the first three quarters of the nineteenth century, the 
suffrage widened steadily. Religious qualifications practically 
disappeared before 1850. After a long drawn out struggle most 
of the eastern states practically eliminated the property qualifica¬ 
tion from their suffrage laws. This change was due, in large 
part, to the influence of the doctrine of natural rights. There 
were additional factors, of course. In many places along the 
Atlantic seaboard, for example, the extension of the suffrage 
was somewhat in response to the influence of the doctrine of 
natural rights, but it was also partly due to the economic pressure 
exerted by the increasing number of landless laborers who were 
crowding into the manufacturing cities and towns. 

The extension of the suffrage during this period is closely associ¬ 
ated with the development of the West. Whereas the eastern 
states removed property and religious qualifications only after 
a struggle, many western states imposed few or no restrictions 
upon the suffrage, but from the start were committed to the 
principle of equality at the polls. The doctrine that governments 
derive their just powers from the consent of the governed was 
popular in the West; indeed, it was here that the doctrine was 
first applied to the problem of suffrage in a definite and practical 
manner. In the more sparsely settled portions of the country, 
able-bodied men were more important than social distinctions 
and religious ties, so much so, in fact, that some of the western 
states attracted settlers by giving the vote to aliens who had 
announced their intention of becoming citizens. After the Civil 
War some of the southern states made similar advances to Euro¬ 
pean immigrants. 

After the Civil War the suffrage movement was profoundly 
affected by the Negro question. The Thirteenth Amendment, 
adopted in 1865, had merely abolished slavery. In the subsequent 
discussion over the status of the Negro, some white men held 
that the theory of natural rights entitled the freed Negroes to 


344 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


the suffrage. This view was opposed by many, particularly in 
the South. Nevertheless, in 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment 
to the Constitution provided that any state denying any of its 
male adult citizens the right to vote might suffer a reduction in 
its congressional representation. Two years later (1870) the 
Fifteenth Amendment went a step further, and declared that 
the right of citizens of the United States to vote might not be 
denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude. 

The nineteenth century also witnessed an increased interest in 
woman suffrage. The proposition was not unknown even in 
colonial times, but the earlier state constitutions and statutes 
had almost invariably excluded women from the vote. After 
the middle of the century the woman suffrage movement grew 
rapidly, stimulated, to a considerable extent, by the movement 
for abolition and Negro suffrage. In 1852 Susan B. Anthony 
assumed leadership of the woman suffrage movement, and in 
1875 she drafted a proposed amendment to the Federal Consti¬ 
tution which would provide for woman suffrage throughout the 
country. The territory of Wyoming had extended women full 
suffrage in 1869, and a decade later the right to vote in school 
elections had been extended the women of Michigan, Minnesota, 
and several other States. By 1896 Colorado, Idaho, and Utah 
had extended full suffrage to women. 

413. Decline of the natural rights theory. — During the latter 
half of the nineteenth century the doctrine of natural rights was 
of declining importance as a basis of the suffrage. The doctrine 
was illogical, for not even its most ardent advocates would go 
so far as to maintain that paupers and mental defectives had 
an inherent right to vote. Nor did anyone claim that persons 
under twenty-one years of age had such a right. 

As time went on, the connection between the suffrage and 
the doctrine of natural rights seemed more and more remote. 
Men came gradually to believe that the suffrage was not a right 
but a privilege , and that the capacity of the individual to use the 
vote in the public interest was the factor which should determine 
whether or not he should enjoy the suffrage. This changed 


WHO SHALL SHARE IN GOVERNMENT? 


345 

viewpoint reflected itself in several important shifts in the suffrage 
movement. 

414. Shifts in the suffrage movement. — To a considerable 
extent the decline of the doctrine of natural rights was accompa¬ 
nied by increased restrictions upon the right to vote. We have 
noted that many western and a few southern states formerly 
made a practice of extending the vote to aliens who had announced 
their intention of becoming citizens. After the seventies there 
was a tendency for such states to withdraw this privilege, and to 
make citizenship a prerequisite to voting. One reason for this 
changed attitude was that as time went on immigrant labor was 
less in demand in the West and South. Still another factor, how¬ 
ever, was the abuse of the ballot among unassimilated immigrant 
groups in our cities. 

After the middle of the nineteenth century, there was a growing 
feeling, originating in New England and spreading westward, 
that illiterate voters were a menace to sound government. Ac¬ 
cordingly, educational tests were imposed in a number of states. 
These tests generally require voters to be able to read and write. 

The enfranchisement of the Negro was followed by reaction. 
The exercise of the suffrage by ignorant Negroes suddenly ad¬ 
mitted to full suffrage, resulted in gross abuses of political power. 
As a result many southern states eventually passed laws which 
virtually deny the vote to the larger part of the possible Negro 
electorate. In some cases white election officials administer the 
educational test so strictly as to exclude most Negroes. In other 
cases a property or poll tax qualification has been used to exclude 
large groups of shiftless Negroes. In still other cases a “grand¬ 
father clause” in the state constitution exempts from the edu¬ 
cational test all who are descendants of persons voting before 
the Civil War. This allows white illiterates to vote, but excludes 
illiterate Negroes. 

On the other hand, the cause of woman suffrage was greatly 
stimulated by the decline of the doctrine of natural rights 
and the rise of the theory that civic capacity should determine 
the suffrage.. Particularly after 1900 did the agitation take on 
national importance. A national Woman Suffrage Association 


346 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

was organized, and powerful pressure was brought to bear 
tipon persons of political influence. Between 1910 and 1912 
Washington, California, Oregon, Kansas, and Arizona were 
won to the cause of woman suffrage. Finally in August, 1920, 
the amendment which Miss Anthony had drafted in 1875 was 
ratified and declared in force. Women are now allowed the 
vote on the same terms as men. 

415. Present restrictions on the right to vote. — The suffrage 
in the several states at the present time may be summarized 
as follows: 

In every state voters must be at least 21 years of age. In 
a few states the vote is extended to aliens who have declared 
their intention of becoming citizens. In every state a period 
of residence is required of voters, the usual period being be¬ 
tween six months and a year. Educational qualifications are 
imposed in about a third of the states. A number of southern 
and a few northern states require voters to be assessed 
for a poll tax. In practically every state such abnormal 
persons as the feeble-minded, the insane, paupers in insti¬ 
tutions, and certain types of criminals are excluded from 
the suffrage. Untaxed Indians, and foreign-born Chinese and 
Japanese do not enjoy the suffrage. 

416. Present status of the suffrage movement. — The suf¬ 
frage movement has steadily increased the number of potential 
voters until at the present time there are more than 30,000,000 
persons in the United States who are entitled to the vote. 
The important groups of the adult population have been en¬ 
franchised, but the suffrage movement still involves important 
problems. In view of our changing attitude toward the suffrage 
we face four unanswered questions: 

First, should the present restrictions on the suffrage be low¬ 
ered? Second, should they be made more severe? Third, in 
view of the fact that naturalization automatically makes 
voters of many individuals, to what extent ought the grant 
of citizenship to be determined by the individual’s promise 
as a voter? Fourth, what should be our attitude toward Negro 
suffrage? 


WHO SHALL SHARE IN GOVERNMENT? 


347 


Let us summarize the fundamental considerations which 
must be borne in mind in discussing the four problems sug¬ 
gested above. This done, we may briefly consider the most 
pressing of these questions, i.e. that involving Negro suffrage. 

417. The suffrage is a privilege and not a right. — The 
significance of the difference between citizenship and the suf¬ 
frage should be clearly understood. Citizenship is a funda¬ 
mental matter. In return for allegiance to his government, 
the citizen may be considered as being entitled to that measure 
of protection which is deemed necessary to his safety and 
well-being. But though we speak loosely of the “right” of 
suffrage, the suffrage is a privilege, not a right. The individual 
cannot claim it as a corollary of citizenship. Nor does mere 
residence in a democratic country entitle the individual to the 
ballot. The safety and well-being of the citizen are not neces¬ 
sarily dependent upon his exercise of the vote. Indeed, in¬ 
capable persons may be better off if they are excluded from 
the suffrage, provided, of course, that the voting class holds 
itself responsible for the government of the excluded groups. 
Fitness alone justifies the suffrage. 

418. What constitutes fitness? — The ballot cannot be exer¬ 
cised by the unfit without endangering the whole fabric of 
government. But what is the standard of fitness? The history 
of the suffrage in the United States throws some light upon 
this question. In colonial times the plea of the propertied 
classes was that fitness was primarily a matter of racial origin, 
the ownership of property, or church affiliation. According 
to the theory of natural rights, fitness was vaguely associated 
with manhood and citizenship. More recently we have come 
to believe that while many factors influence the capacity of 
the voter, such factors as religion, racial origin, and ownership 
of substantial amounts of property, are not vital. A definite 
standard of fitness has never been established, but at least 
we can say that fitness means both the desire and the capacity 
to serve the state by an honest and intelligent use of the ballot. 

419. The question of Negro suffrage. —We are beginning 
to suspect that the attention attracted by Negro suffrage is 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


348 

due, not so much to the injustice of disfranchising the Negro 
as to the spectacular circumstances surrounding the American 
Negro. It is unjust, of course, to exclude the Negro from the 
vote merely because of his race. But exclusion of Negroes not 
qualified to make an intelligent use of the ballot is no more 
unfair than are the educational tests imposed by many northern 
states. To exclude illiterate Negroes from the vote, and at the 
same time to allow illiterate whites the ballot, is, on the other 
hand, manifestly unfair. But far more productive of good 
than debating this unfairness is the attempt to fit the Negro 
for the vote as a prerequisite to his exercise of it. During this 
preparation the Negro should have before him the incentive 
of securing the ballot when he has made sufficient progress 
in education and civic responsibility. 

420. Problem of an intelligent electorate. — The problem 
of building up an intelligent electorate gives rise to two addi¬ 
tional questions: First, how may the enfranchised classes be 
trained to a full realization of their civic responsibilities? Sec¬ 
ond, to what extent is intelligent voting dependent upon actual 
exercise of the suffrage? The first question has been treated 
elsewhere, and we may close this chapter with a brief consid¬ 
eration of the second question. 

It is maintained by some that no one should be admitted 
to the suffrage who has not first demonstrated his capacity 
to use the vote intelligently. Others reply that this capacity 
comes only through actual exercise of the vote. The solution 
of this problem probably lies in a judicious combination of 
theory and practice. A boy cannot learn to swim by standing 
on the bank and forever listening to theoretical instruction; 
on the other hand, it may prove fatal to push him into deep 
water without preparation for that step. Instruction and prac¬ 
tice must go hand in hand, wisely interwoven and harmonized. 
Similarly, it would seem, one way to secure an intelligent elec¬ 
torate is to admit individuals to the suffrage only when they 
demonstrate a minimum capacity for civic service, but at the 
same time to recognize that full moral development can come 
only through actual exercise of the vote. 


On Cn 


WHO SHALL SHARE IN GOVERNMENT ? 


349 


Questions on the Text 

1. Distinguish between citizenship and the suffrage. 

2. Why is the suffrage important in a representative democracy? 

3. Discuss the suffrage in colonial times. 

4. What was the probable extent of the suffrage in 1789? 

. What is the doctrine of natural rights? 

. How was this doctrine applied to the question of the suffrage? 

7. Why was the suffrage in the eastern states widened in the nine¬ 

teenth century? 

8. Discuss the suffrage in the new West. 

9. Describe the enfranchisement of the Negro. 

10. Outline the early development of the woman suffrage movement. 

11. Discuss the decline of the natural rights theory. 

12. Outline some recent shifts in the suffrage movement. 

13. Enumerate the present restrictions on the right to vote. 

14. What is the present status of the suffrage movement? 

15. What is meant by saying that the suffrage is a privilege and not 

a right? 

16. What is meant by saying that “fitness” is the basis of the suffrage? 

17. What can be said as to the question of Negro suffrage? 

18. To what -extent does intelligent voting depend upon actual exer¬ 

cise of the ballot? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxxiii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Beard, American Citizenship, chapter vi. 

3. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, chapters x and xii. 

4. Porter, A History of Suffrage in the United States, chapter i. 

5. Seymour, How the World Votes, vol. i, chapters i and ii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is the relation of political to civil liberty? (Beard, pages 

64-65.) 

2. Name some groups of people who were excluded from the suffrage 

in colonial times. (Porter, page 5.) 

3. What were some of the early arguments for giving propertyless 

men the vote? (Beard, pages 66-67.) 

4. What was Dorr’s Rebellion? (Beard, page 69.) 

5. What is the significance of the “foreign vote”? (Beard, pages 73-74.) 

6. What are the four theories of suffrage? (Seymour, pages 1-2.) 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


350 

7. In what form did the suffrage enter the American colonies? (Sey¬ 

mour, page 9.) 

8. What theory of suffrage supplanted the theory of natural rights? 

(Seymour, pages 13-14.) 

9. What effect has the suffrage upon the individual? (Seymour, 

pages 15-16.) 

10. Discuss the educational test. (Cleveland, pages 172-174.) 

11. To what extent is bearing arms against the country a disqualifi¬ 

cation for voting? (Cleveland, page 176.) 

12. What is the purpose of compulsory voting? (Cleveland, pages 

176-178.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Civil rights guaranteed by the constitution of your state. 

2. History of woman suffrage in your state. 

3. Citizenship as a prerequisite for voting in your state. 

4. Present restrictions on the right to vote in your state. 

5. List the groups or classes of people in your community who are 

not allowed to vote. What is the proportion of these classes to 
the total population of the community? What per cent of these 
excluded classes are aliens? What is the basis for exclusion in 
each case? Would you favor the extension of the vote to any 
of these groups? Explain. 


n 

6. Colonial suffrage. (McKinley, The Suffrage Franchise in the 

Thirteen English Colonies in America; Cleveland, Organized 

Democracy , chapter x.) 

7. Dorr’s Rebellion. (Consult any standard text on American history 

or an encyclopedia.) 

8. Suffrage and the frontier. (Seymour, How the World Votes, vol. i, 

chapter xi.) 

9. Property and tax-paying qualifications in the nineteenth century. 

(Porter, A History of Suffrage in the United States, chapters ii-iv.) 

10. Woman suffrage in the nineteenth century. (Consult Porter, 

Seymour, or the Cyclopedia of American Government. 1 ) 

1 Throughout the remainder of this text the student will find it 
to his advantage to make frequent use of the Cyclopedia of American 
Government, edited, in three volumes, by A. C. McLaughlin and 
A. B. Hart. N.Y. 1914. Appleton and Company. 

This cyclopedia will furnish considerable material for students seeking 
either general information on political subjects, or special information 
for topic work. 


WHO SHALL SHARE IN GOVERNMENT ? 


351 

11. History of the Nineteenth Amendment. (Consult American 

Yearbooks, and also newspaper files for August, 1920.) 

12. Effect of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments upon the 

suffrage. (Kaye, Readings in Civil Government, pages 113-116.) 

13. Negro suffrage. (Consult an encyclopedia, or any standard work 

on American government.) 

14. Types of individuals who are excluded from the suffrage. (Cleve¬ 

land, Organized Democracy, chapter xii.) 

15. Duties of the American voter. (Forman, The American Democracy, 

pages 14 -- 15 -) 

For Classroom Discussion 

16. To what extent is the doctrine of natural rights still influential 

in American political discussions? 

17. Do you favor an amendment to the Federal Constitution, provid¬ 

ing that no state may extend the suffrage to persons who are 
not citizens of the United States? 

18. How long should a potential voter be required to live in a state 

before being allowed to exercise the ballot? 

19. To what extent does the educational test show the fitness of the 

individual to make the right use of his vote? 

20. Should all convicted criminals be denied the vote during the 

remainder of their lives? 

21. Just what constitutes fitness for the suffrage? 


CHAPTER XXXIV 


THE POLITICAL PARTY 

421. Nature of the political party. — A political party may 
be defined as a voluntary association of voters, entered into for 
the purpose of influencing elections to public office. The in¬ 
dividuals comprising a party have certain broad political 
principles in common, and these they seek, by organized effort, 
to have applied to actual government. Just as individuals 
differ on matters of business or religion, so it is human nature 
for the voters of a community to form varying opinions as to 
the nature, functions, and methods of government. And just 
as men tend to draw away from those with whose opinions 
they do not agree, so they tend to draw toward those with 
whom they are in agreement, and with whose cooperation 
they may advance principles of mutual interest. It is this 
natural tendency of men, first, to differ with one another, and 
second, to form associations for the advancement of mutual 
aims, that has led to the formation of political parties. 

422. Development of parties in the United States. — The 
American political party is older than the nation. Differences 
of political opinion divided the American colonists into Whigs 
and Tories. Later, party spirit was manifested in the forma¬ 
tion of the Revolutionary committees of correspondence. The 
struggle over the Constitution of 1787 divided men into Fed¬ 
eralists and Anti-Federalists. The question of a broad or a 
strict construction of the constitution, the tariff, and the prob¬ 
lem of slavery in the territories, — these are a few of the great 
national issues that have influenced party lines. Before the 
Civil War party spirit had extended to all parts of the country, 
evidencing itself in a number of party organizations. Many 

352 


THE POLITICAL PARTY 


353 


of these organizations proved temporary, but since the Civil 
War party lines have been relatively fixed. For more than 
a half century there have been two great parties, the Demo¬ 
cratic and the Republican. Third parties have been either 
temporary or relatively unimportant. 

423. Party organization. — There is no constitutional basis 
or provision for American political parties, nevertheless each 
of the great parties has built up a powerful organization which 
coordinates party members in every part of the country. In 
practically every township, village, election district, and city 
ward there are party agents and local committees whose work 
it is to promote the interests of the party both at election time 
and between elections. The local party workers constitute 
a link between individual voters and the county or State com¬ 
mittees, while these latter groups in turn connect with the 
national committee of the party. 

It is the work of all those officially connected with this cen¬ 
tralized organization to win adherents to the party standard, 
to place issues before the voters, to stimulate interest in can¬ 
didates, to organize meetings and clubs, to collect funds for 
party support, to secure the registration of voters, and to see 
that they get to the polls. Party opinion is formed by means 
of personal contacts, campaign literature, speeches, parades, 
and every manner of propaganda. Party opinion is formally 
expressed through the caucus, the primary, the convention, 
and the regular election. (See Sections 435-438.) 

424. Services performed by the political party. — The po¬ 
litical party performs three great services. 1 

The first of these is that the party provides machinery which 
bridges over the gaps between local, state, and National gov¬ 
ernment. Similarly, it often serves to bring the executive, 
legislative, and judicial branches of government into harmony 
with one another. The check and balance system so divides 

1 The following arrangement of the services of the political party 
was suggested to me by Professor W. B. Munro, of Harvard University. 
For a fuller discussion see Chapter XXII of his The Government oj 
the United States , The Macmillan Company, New York, 1919. 


354 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


authority in American government that in many ways the 
different branches and divisions of government are uncoordi¬ 
nated. The party facilitates the working of American govern¬ 
ment because party members* affiliated with one division of 
government will tend to cooperate with members of the same 
party who may be in control of other divisions of government. 
For example, a Democratic governor tends to cooperate with 
the Democratic members of the state legislature. Similarly, 
a Republican President will tend to work in harmony with 
those members of his party who are in control of purely state 
government. 

The second great service performed by the party is that it 
formulates public issues and presents them in concrete shape 
to the voters. Just as in industry it is the function of the 
entrepreneur to coordinate the other factors of production, 
so in government it is the function of the politician to act as 
a coordinator. Indeed, President Lowell calls the politician 
a broker, without whose services popular government would 
be impossible. If voters went to the polls with no previous 
agreement as to candidates or issues, but each determined to 
vote for whomever he liked, thousands of names might be 
found on the ballot. If a majority were required to elect, no 
individual would be chosen. The party thus performs a val¬ 
uable service by formulating those principles which will attract 
the greatest number of voters, and by definitely associating 
those principles with particular candidates. These issues and 
these candidates the party places squarely before the electorate, 
to the exclusion of minor issues and unimportant candidates. 
The party is thus a means whereby democracy makes up its 
mind, and expresses that mind with a minimum of confusion 
and disorder. 

The third great service of the political party is that it provides 
a means of collective and continuing responsibility in politics. 
If a candidate were not affiliated with any political party, 
misbehavior in office might result in his removal or in his failure 
to secure reelection. But here responsibility would end. When, 
on the other hand, the party selects, supports, and vouches 


THE POLITICAL PARTY 


355 


for a candidate, the party constitutes a definite and permanent 
pledge to the voters. Thus the party is stimulated to select 
its candidates carefully, lest their incompetence or dishonesty 
fatally injure the reputation of the party. The past exploits 
of the party are appropriated for future campaigns; conversely, 
the failure or misbehavior of an officeholder will be pointed 
out by his political enemies as typical of the party to which 
the unfortunate man belongs. 

425. The abuse of party power. — Though party govern¬ 
ment confers substantial benefits, it is likewise true that the 
power of the political party has been frequently abused. Ameri¬ 
can party organizations sprang up silently, and developed 
largely without legal control. Increased power has been ac¬ 
companied by diffused responsibility; increased power and 
diffused responsibility have led to the abuse of power. The 
evils of the party are numerous, and only those of fundamental 
importance can be discussed in this text. Some of these evils 
will appear in successive chapters; a few may be treated here. 
In every case, it should be borne in mind, the basic defect of 
party government is that the party has tended to use its power 
primarily for private rather than public ends. 

426. Campaign contributions. — Throughout much of our 
national history one of the great evils of the political party has 
had to do with contributions to the campaign fund. A few 
decades ago it was the custom of parties, not only to accept 
large sums of money from special interests, but actually to 
demand substantial contributions from railroad and other 
corporations on pain of unfriendly legislation when the party 
got into power. In our cities gambling houses and other vicious 
interests habitually contributed to the campaign fund of the 
party, with the understanding that the party so supported 
would, if successful at the polls, protect these unlawful busi¬ 
nesses. Large amounts were also secured from officeholders 
who feared to incur the ill will of the party by refusing to con¬ 
tribute to the campaign fund. The enormous sums got to¬ 
gether from these various sources were used to finance election 
contests, the peak being reached when in the presidential 


356 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


election of 1896 the Republican party is said to have spent more 
than $7,000,000. The source of most of this sum was unknown 
to the general public. 

Fortunately, recent legislation has remedied a considerable 
measure of the evils attending unrestricted contributions to 
the campaign fund. Laws now prohibit party agents from 
seeking contributions from the holders of Federal civil service 
offices. In 1910 and 1911 Congress passed Acts providing that 
a candidate for Representative to Congress may not expend 
more than $5000 toward his election, while a United States 
Senator may not spend more than $10,000 for a similar purpose. 
Other laws specify the purposes for which campaign money may 
be spent. In presidential and congressional elections the treas¬ 
urer of the national committee of each party must now report 
the entire campaign fund contributed and expended, giving 
the name of every individual contributing over $1000, and 
also furnishing an itemized statement of all expenditures over 
$10. This report is filed with the clerk of the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives, and is open to the public. 

There can be no doubt but that these and similar laws have 
operated to deprive the campaign fund of many of its illegiti¬ 
mate features. Most of the money now expended by parties 
is secured from a large number of small contributions. This 
not only lessens the control of party policies by special interests, 
but it also serves to make the party more responsible to the 
rank and file of the organization. 

427. Party domination of nominations and elections. — A 
great problem of party government is to prevent parties from 
unduly influencing the choice of public officials. Leaving until 
later the general question of nominations and elections, it 
may be pointed out here that very often the whole weight of 
party power is directed toward securing the election to office 
of candidates deemed desirable by the party machine. The 
political “boss” has consistently used his power to manipulate 
the caucus or the primary so as to advance his own interests 
at public expense. Caucuses have been held without proper 
notice being given, and party henchmen have been employed to 


THE POLITICAL PARTY 


357 


work for an inside clique or ring. Formerly the rolls of party 
members were padded with the names of men dead or absent. 
Too often elections were characterized by the stuffing of ballot 
boxes, the intimidation or bribery of voters, and the practice 
of voting more than once. The effect of these and similar 
practices has been to thwart the will of the majority of party 
members, and to elevate self-interest above the general welfare. 

The last few decades of American political history have 
been characterized by a number of laws designed to safeguard 
the process of nomination and election. In practically every 
state in the Union there are corrupt practices acts which aim 
not only to prevent the misuse of the campaign fund, but to 
control the party in other respects also. In all but two states 
registration is a prerequisite to voting. The introduction 
into this country of the Australian ballot, and its rapid spread 
among the states after 1890, has made the ballot secret. By 
preventing the intimidation of the voter, and by otherwise 
safeguarding his rights at the polls, ballot reform has remedied 
many abuses which formerly resulted in illegal and unrep¬ 
resentative elections. Bribery and illegal voting are no longer 
glaring evils. It is now the general practice for state laws to 
provide definite polling places, and to guard the receiving and 
counting -of the ballots. 

428. The spoils system. — During the first forty years of 
our national life it was taken for granted that subordinate 
executive officials should continue in office during good behavior, 
regardless of a change of administration. After President Jack¬ 
son’s first term, however, it became the general practice for 
the incoming party to use offices to reward party supporters. 
Senator Marcy’s original declaration that “ to the victor belongs 
the spoils,” was accepted by both Democratic and Republican 
parties. Each party, upon coming into power, habitually 
turned out appointive officials placed in office by the opposition 
party. The positions thus made vacant were filled by indi¬ 
viduals from the ranks of the victorious party. 

The spoils system is a serious evil for which party spirit 
must be held accountable. By virtue of their patronage, party 


358 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

leaders have exercised an undue influence over the rank and 
file of the party. Frequently a candidate has been named 
for office, not because he possessed marked capacity for public 
service, but because he showed promise of being a good vote- 
getter at election time. Very frequently, therefore, office¬ 
holders have secured their positions as the reward of party 
support, rather than because of merit. The spoils system has 
encouraged the holders of executive offices to pay more atten¬ 
tion to the political fortunes of their party than to their public 
duties. Knowing that with a change of administration they 
would probably be ousted to make room for the supporters 
of the rival party, officials have been tempted to use public 
office for personal ends. 

The spoils system still constitutes a defect in American 
government. Nevertheless something has been done toward 
eliminating its worst features. The Civil Service Act of 1883 
provided that more than 12,000 Federal executive offices should 
be filled by competitive examinations rather than by political 
appointment. The Federal Civil Service System has been sub¬ 
sequently extended until at the present time about two thirds 
of the administrative offices in the Federal government are 
filled on the merit plan. In many sections of the country 
the merit plan has also been used to fill state and municipal 
offices. Though as yet limited in scope, it would appear that 
the future will see a steady expansion of the merit plan in 
local and state as well as in the National government. 

The essential feature of this system, whether in local, 
state or National government, is that officeholders secure their 
positions on the basis of individual merit. In theory at least, 
they are little affected by changes of administration. Both 
retention of office and promotion are on the basis of merit, 
though the standards by which appointees are judged have 
not yet been perfected. 

429. Extension of favors to special interests. — The tend¬ 
ency of the political party to extend special favors to private 
corporations has constituted a serious evil in American politics. 
In some instances powerful corporations have corrupted party 


THE POLITICAL PARTY 


359 


politics; in other cases party organizations have blackmailed 
corporations under the threat of unfriendly legislation; in 
many other cases both party and corporations have been to 
blame. In every case, however, the essential fact is that often 
the party has been used for the advancement of special interests 
rather than to promote the general welfare. Unfavorable leg¬ 
islation has been bought off and favorable laws secured by 
trusts, public service corporations, and other large industrial 
interests. Exemption from prosecution has been purchased 
by gambling houses and other illegal businesses. Public service 
corporations have secured valuable franchises for inadequate 
consideration. Contracts for paving and other public works 
have many times been awarded, not to firms offering the best 
work at the lowest price, but to incompetent or dishonest 
corporations. Such contracts have been secured by these 
corporations • because of favoritism shown them by political 
henchmen holding office under the spoils system. 

Notable headway has been made in checking these evils. 
The regulation of the railroads by the Interstate Commerce 
Commission renders it difficult for railroad corporations unduly 
to influence party policies. Anti-trust legislation has similarly 
checked the political activities of other great industrial com¬ 
binations. There is a growing tendency for states to pass laws 
forbidding or restricting the maintenance of lobbies in legislative 
halls. Many recent state constitutions narrowly restrict the 
franchise-granting power. Corrupt practices acts forbid party 
contributions from corporations. The Civil Service System 
renders less easy the unfair award of government contracts to 
private corporations. 

430. Decline of party abuses. — It is clear that the develop¬ 
ment of party government in this country has been attended 
by important benefits and serious evils. But the best author¬ 
ities agree that the merits of the party system outweigh its 
defects. Hence our problem is not how to destroy the system, 
but how to regulate it so that we may secure the benefit of its 
services and avoid the evil results of its defects. The experience 
of the last half century is heartening, and it must be admitted, 


360 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

not only that party abuses have declined, but that there is 
good reason to believe that they will continue to decline. In 
our attitude toward the political party we must distinguish, 
as Burke distinguished, between the legitimate form of the 
party and its perverted form. The perverted forms of party 
organization call for censure and attack; the legitimate features 
of the party deserve our appreciation and support. 

431. Duty of party support. — Parties seem to be inevitable, 
for no one has yet shown how representative government 
can be carried on without them. Since the average voter 
cannot make his influence felt except through organization 
and mass action, it is, as a rule, as futile for the individual to 
cast his vote regardless of party affiliations as it is for a soldier 
to fight without regard for army discipline and organization. 
Parties are the result of compromises, and the individual must 
be willing to shelve minor issues for the sake of uniting with 
his fellows upon vital issues. Ordinarily, the individual will 
best perform his civic duties by affiliating himself with some 
political party. 

But we are coming to believe that the necessity of party 
support in National and state elections does not imply that 
party support is necessary in local elections. In National pol¬ 
itics each party generally has a definite policy with regard 
to taxation, the tariff, armaments, and other debatable issues. 
Support of the party for the realization of its program on these 
matters may be justifiable; on the other hand, loyalty to party 
in local politics may be an evil. There is no Democratic way 
of cleaning a street, and no Republican method of fighting a 
fire. Thus the same citizen who may be under a moral obliga¬ 
tion to support some party in National and state politics, may 
be under a similar obligation to make his choice of local can¬ 
didates independent of party. A desirable development, in 
this regard, is the recent tendency for some municipal elec¬ 
tions to be decided regardless of the party affiliations of the 
candidates. 

432. Integrity is above party. — Young people are commonly 
advised to affiliate themselves with that political party which 


THE POLITICAL PARTY 


361 

seems most adequately to express their political ideals. But 
though this is a method of conserving political energy, no 
citizen ought to support a party which has ceased to represent 
him on matters which he considers of vital importance. When 
the party machine sets itself up as an end rather than a 
means, and when it emphasizes gain to a few rather than benefits 
to the party as a whole, then it is time for honest men to aban¬ 
don their party. Integrity is above party. The slogan, “My 
party right or wrong,” is not only stupid but treasonable. Let 
the citizen be eager to cooperate with his fellows for the advance¬ 
ment of common political views, but let the corrupt party be 
abandoned. 

433. Responsibility of the individual for party abuses. — 

Nothing could be more mistaken than the belief that defective 
government is due primarily to the existence of an entity 
known as the political party. The party is merely an associa¬ 
tion of individuals, and if it is corrupt it is so because of the 
corruption of the individuals comprising it. It is time that 
political pessimists stopped blaming the party for the defects 
of party government, and time they began to see that the in¬ 
difference and shortsightedness of the individual voter is at 
the bottom of the trouble. One of the greatest sources of 
corruption in American life is the knowledge of political bosses 
that many of their adherents will follow the party standard 
regardless of its platform and no matter what the character 
of its candidates. The party boss is given an opening when 
individuals neglect to perform their civic duties. The failure 
to vote, or to serve in office when the opportunity offers, the 
failure either to protest against candidates chosen unfairly, or 
to demand an accounting of officeholders, spell corruption and 
inefficiency in government. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Define a political party. Why have parties arisen? 

2. Trace briefly the development of parties in the United States. 

3. Outline the organization of a political party. 

4. Explain clearly the three great benefits of party organization. 

5. What is the basic defect of party government? 


362 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


6. What can be said as to contributions to the campaign fund of 

political parties? 

7. Name some methods whereby the party boss may dominate 

nominations and elections. Outline some laws designed to 
safeguard nominations and elections. 

8. What is the spoils system and when did it arise? 

9. What effect has the merit plan had upon the spoils system? 

10. Are party abuses declining or increasing? 

11. Distinguish between the duty of party support in National and 

perhaps State elections, and the duty of such support in local 
elections. 

12. Under what circumstances should an individual abandon his party? 

13. To what extent is the individual responsible for party abuses? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxxiv. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. i, chapter ii; vol. ii, chapter xl. 

3. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the TJnited States, chapter xxxvi. 

4. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapters xxii and xxiii. 

5. Woodburn, Political Parties and Party Problems, chapter xv. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What was Washington’s opinion of the political party? (Munro, 

page 313.) 

2. Who were the Federalists? (Guitteau, pages 455-456.) 

3. Discuss the principles of the Democratic-Republican party. (Guit¬ 

teau, pages 456-457.) 

4. What was the origin of the National-Republican party? (Guitteau, 

pages 457-458.) 

5. What was the origin of the Democratic party? (Guitteau, page 457.) 

6. What part have third parties played in our history? (Guitteau, 

pages 459-460.) 

7. What three sets of men exist in every party? (Bryce, vol. i, 

pages 126-127.) 

8. What are the three contributions of the United States to political 

science? (Bryce, vol. ii, page 27.) 

9. What are the two aims of party organization? (Bryce, vol. ij. 

page 32.) 

10. What is the relation of the party to national unity? (Bryce, 
vol. ii, pages 43-44.) 

In what way does the party stabilize popular government? (Bryce 
vol. ii, pages 44-45-) 


11. 


THE POLITICAL PARTY 363 

12. What is the relation of constancy and faithfulness to the safety 
of the Republic? (Woodburn, page 338.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Which party occupies the dominant position in the political life 

of your community? Find out why it holds this position. 

2. The history of third parties in your section, i.e., parties other 

than the Democratic and Republican parties. 

3. The organization of any political party having official represent¬ 

atives in your community. 

4. The work of local political committees in your community im¬ 

mediately preceding election. 

5. Corrupt practices acts in your state. 

6. The Civil Service System in your state. 

7. Make a study of the different political parties with a view to 

determining which you would prefer to join. 

II 

8. Origin and growth of parties in the United States. (Beard, Ameri¬ 

can Government and Politics, pages 103-108; Guitteau, Govern¬ 
ment and Politics in the United States, chapter xxxvi; Bryce, 
The American Commonwealth, vol. ii, chapters liii and liv; Ford, 
The Rise and Growth of American Politics, chapter vii.) 

9. Characteristics of the political party. (Ray, Introduction to 

Political Parties and Practical Politics, chapter i.) 

10. Distrust of parties in our early history. (Jones, Readings on 

Parties and Elections in the United States, pages 28-36.) 

11. The spoils system. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. ii, 

chapters lxv and lxvii; Ray, Introduction to Political Parties 
and Practical Politics, chapter xiv.) 

12. “Why the best men do not go into politics.” {Bryce, The American 

Commonwealth, vol. ii, chapter lviii.) 

13. Campaign contributions. (Brooks, Corruption in American Pol¬ 

itics and Life.) 

14. The party ring. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. ii, 

chapters lxiii and lxiv.) 

15. The state boss. (Reinsch, Readings on American State Govern¬ 

ment, pages 432—434; Ray, Introduction to Political Parties 
and Practical Politics, chapter xvi.) 

16. How the party machine works. (Ford, The Rise and Growth of 

American Politics, pages 294-333; Kaye, Readings in Civil 


3 6 4 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Governments, pages 373-377; Jones, Readings on Parties and 
Elections in the United States, pages 175-178; Lowell, Public 
Opinion and Popular Government, chapter vi.) 

17. Party government in England and in the United States. (Jones, 

Readings on Parties and Elections in the United States, pages 1-11.) 

18. Necessity of strong parties in the United States. (Jones, Readings 

on Parties and Elections in the United States, pages 20-27.) 

19. The struggle for good government. (Hammond and Jenks, Great 

American Issues, chapter v.) 

20. The citizen and the party. (Bryce, Hindrances to Gffod*Citizenship, 

all; Hughes, Conditions of Progress in Democratic Government, 
lectures iii and iv; Root, Addresses on Government and Citizen¬ 
ship, pages 1-77.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

21. Do third parties serve a useful purpose? 

22. Should we pass laws limiting the total amount which any political 

candidate may spend in the campaign for nomination and 
election? 

23. What are the advantages and disadvantages of placing party 

emblems at the head of ballots? 

24. To what extent will civic education remedy the evils of the spoils 

system? 

25. How will you determine which party you prefer to affiliate with, 

when you become of age? 

26. How would you determine whether or not an individual ought to 

abandon his party? Suppose that an individual has severed 
connections with a party which he had reason to suppose was 
corrupt. Under what circumstances should he return to the 
ranks of that party? 


CHAPTER XXXV 


CHOOSING THE AGENTS OF GOVERNMENT 

434. The problem. — In an important sense, good govern¬ 
ment is a matter of getting the right men into office, hence one 
of the most vital problems in American democracy has to do 
with the choice of public officials. In any representative de¬ 
mocracy nominations and elections must be a difficult and com¬ 
plex matter; in the United States the problem is rendered 
doubly difficult by the great size of the country, and by the 
rapidity with which its population is increasing. In this country 
hundreds of thousands of public officials are placed in office 
annually, all of them either elected at the polls, or chosen by 
agents who are themselves elected. 

The problem before us involves four questions: First, how can 
we perfect the mechanism by means of which the officers of 
government are selected? Second, how can we elect officials 
who represent a majority, rather than a plurality 1 , of those 
actually voting? Third, how can voters be helped to make 
intelligent choices at the polls? Fourth, how can we encourage 
qualified voters to make an habitual use of the ballot? 

435. Nomination by caucus. — One of the earliest methods 
of choosing party candidates in this country was by means of 
the caucus. The caucus was an informal meeting in which the 
local members of a political party nominated candidates for 
town and county offices. Candidates for state offices were 
named by a legislative caucus, in which legislators belonging 
to the same party came together and determined their respective 
nominations. The legislative caucus spread to all of the states, 
and in 1800 was transferred to Congress as a mode of nominat¬ 
ing the President and Vice-President. 

After 1825 the caucus declined in importance. In the law- 
1 See Section 444. 

365 


366 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


making bodies of both nation and states there continues to 
be a legislative caucus, but its influence upon the choice of 
public officials has greatly diminished. Outside of the state 
and National legislatures the caucus is now found only in 
towns, wards, and other small areas. In these areas it is used 
for the purpose of nominating candidates *for local offices, 
and for the purpose of electing delegates to nominating con¬ 
ventions. Except in some parts of New England, it should 
be noted, this local caucus is now generally known as the 
primary. 

436. Rise of the nominating convention. — After 1825 the 
caucus was largely superseded by the convention. The con¬ 
vention is a relatively large meeting of party delegates chosen 
for the express purpose of deciding upon party policies and 
candidates. The convention device was developed, partly 
because party bosses had come to dominate the caucus, and 
partly because the increasing population of the country neces¬ 
sitated larger congregations of party members. The convention 
was made possible by improved means of transportation, which 
allowed relatively large groups of individuals to come together 
for deliberative purposes. By 1850 all of the political parties 
had adopted the convention plan for the nomination of candi¬ 
dates for most local, state, and National offices. 

437. Decline of the convention. — The convention was an • 
improvement upon the caucus in that it allowed a greater 
number of party members to participate in nominations. Un¬ 
fortunately, delegates to the convention continued to be chosen 
in local caucuses, where the party “ring” or machine usually 
determined the choice of delegates. Bosses prepared “slates,” 
bribed delegates, and otherwise manipulated what was supposed 
to be an expression of the party will in convention. In many 
cases the convention became merely a cut-and-dried affair in 
which party members ratified nominations previously agreed 
upon by party leaders. 

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, and especially 
after 1900, these defects stimulated the development of measures 
designed to reduce or eliminate the abuses of the convention 


CHOOSING THE AGENTS OF GOVERNMENT 367 

system. The most important of these reform measures is the 
Direct Primary. 

438. Nature of the Direct Primary. — The terms caucus, 
primary, and direct primary are easily confused. We have 
seen that the local caucus is now generally known as the 
primary. The essential difference between this caucus or 
primary and the Direct Primary is this: in the Direct Pri¬ 
mary, party members vote directly for the party’s candidates 
at the forthcoming election; in the caucus or primary, on the 
other hand, party members do not vote directly for the more 
important of these candidates, but instead vote for delegates 
to a convention. Later these delegates meet in convention 
and there vote directly for party candidates. Thus the Direct 
Primary is really an election within the party, held for the 
purpose of allowing party members to choose the candidates 
who will represent the party at the approaching regular elec¬ 
tion. When adopted, the Direct Primary abolishes the con¬ 
vention by allowing party members to cast their ballots directly 
for their party’s candidates. Those individuals are nominated 
who receive a plurality of all votes cast. 

In most states the Direct Primary has recently been placed 
under detailed legal control. Such laws generally prescribe 
the time and place of holding the Direct Primary, the qualifica¬ 
tions of those who may participate, and the organization and 
general management of this party election. There is provision 
for polling places, official ballots, and election of officials, just 
as there is provision for similar machinery in the regular elec¬ 
tion which follows the Direct Primary. 

439. Extent of the Direct Primary. — Heralded as a cure 
for the defects of the convention, the Direct Primary spread 
rapidly after 1900. By 1919 every state in the Union had 
adopted it in some form, and about forty states were applying 
the state-wide primary. At first the Direct Primary was used 
only to nominate candidates for local offices, but at the present 
time state officers, and even Federal Senators and Represent¬ 
atives, are often nominated by this method. In more than a 
third of the states the voters at the Direct Primary are allowed 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


368 

to express their preference directly for one of the candidates 
for the presidential nomination. Altogether, the Direct Primary 
has largely supplanted the convention in about three fourths 
of the states. 

440. Advantages claimed for the Direct Primary. — A num¬ 
ber of important advantages are claimed for the Direct Primary. 
It is said that the device reduces the power of the party boss, 
and insures democratic control within the party. Party mem¬ 
bers are more interested in the Direct Primary than in the 
local caucus or primary because in the Direct Primary they 
actually aid in the direct selection of party candidates. The 
local caucus or primary, on the other hand, does not directly 
select the more important party candidates, but can only 
choose delegates to a nominating convention. Because the 
Direct Primary increases the control of the individual over 
party policies, it encourages active political work on the part 
of the rank and file. It is maintained that the Direct Primary 
brings out a larger vote than would otherwise be possible. 
Better candidates are secured by means of the Direct Primary, it 
is claimed, because the nomination of individuals depends upon 
the presentation of their claims to the voters, rather than upon 
winning the favor of party bosses. 

441. Objections urged against the Direct Primary. — The 
opponents of the plan claim that the Direct Primary has serious 
faults. It is said that in supplanting the convention the Direct 
Primary has made more difficult the exchange of views and 
opinions among party members. It is declared that the Direct 
Primary has disorganized the party and has therefore broken 
down party responsibility. It is claimed that the Direct Primary 
has not eliminated the boss, for rather than voting directly for 
candidates of their own choice, electors must make a selection 
from a list of candidates previously arranged by party leaders. 
All of these candidates may be objectionable to the voter. It 
is also pointed out that many worthy candidates have not the 
money to defray the expense of competing in the Direct Pri¬ 
maries. Frequently the “ring” brings out a number of candidates 
to divide the voters, while the henchmen of the ring concen- 


CHOOSING THE AGENTS OF GOVERNMENT 369 

trate their votes upon one man. Lastly, it is pointed out, the 
excessive number of candidates to be selected renders it im¬ 
possible for the average individual to make an intelligent selec¬ 
tion. In such a case, the average individual attends the 
Direct Primary only to confirm the choice of party leaders. 

442. Outlook for the Direct Primary. — Although there is 
much to be said for and against the Direct Primary, the belief 
is gaining ground that this device does not offer the final solu¬ 
tion of the difficulty which led to its establishment. After an 
exhaustive study of the subject, Professor Munro concludes 
as follows: “In a word, the primary seems to afford protection 
against the worst fault of the convention, which was the frequent 
selection of incapable and corrupt candidates at the behest of 
a few political leaders. But it has not, in twenty years or more 
of experience, demonstrated that it can achieve positive results 
of a measurably satisfactory character. It has not rid the 
state of boss domination; it has increased the expense which 
every candidate must incur, and it gives a marked advantage 
to the man whose name is well known to the voters, whether 
he be a professional politician or not. To say that the primary 
secures on the average somewhat better results than the old 
convention may be stating the truth, but it is not high 
praise.” 

443. Nomination by petition. — The system of nomination 
by petition came into use between 1880 and 1890. It provides 
that candidates may be placed in nomination by filing with 
some specified officer nomination papers, or petitions, signed 
by a specified number of qualified voters. The filing of these 
papers entitles the candidates named thereon to have their 
names printed upon the official ballot. The merit of this device 
is that it prevents the party machine from dictating the choice 
of candidates, and that it enables independent candidates to 
be brought forward. On the other hand, it has encouraged 
the circulation of petitions for hire. 

On the whole this method of nomination is proving more 
and more popular in local elections. It seems well adapted 
to the needs of municipalities, for it reduces partisanship to 


370 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


a minimum. It is said that in some cases it practically elimin¬ 
ates national politics from local elections. The supporters of 
nomination by petition are increasing, and it is now proposed 
to apply it to all local and state nominations. In such an event 
the Direct Primary would be radically modified, or even abol¬ 
ished. 

444. Majority representation. — How can we make certain 
that an individual nominated or elected represents a majority 
of those voting? When there are only two candidates, the one 
receiving the largest number of votes receives both a plurality 
and a majority. But when there are several candidates, it 
often happens that the individual receiving the largest number 
of votes does not receive a majority. Suppose, for example, 
that 100,000 votes are cast, and that A receives 20,000, B 25,000 
C 30,000 and D 25,000. Ordinarily C will be declared success¬ 
ful because he has received a plurality of the votes cast. But 
he has not received a majority of the votes cast. This custom 
of declaring successful the candidate receiving a plurality con¬ 
stitutes a defect in our representative system, since a plurality 
candidate may represent only a small minority of those actually 
voting. 

Several attempts have been made to remedy this defect. In 
some southern states it is the practice to require an absolute ma¬ 
jority for election. If no aspirant receives a majority, a second 
ballot is taken on the two candidates standing highest on the list. 
In a number of northern cities, the evil of plurality voting has 
been attacked through the preferential voting device. This 
system of voting allows the voter to designate not only his 
first, but his second and third choices as well. If any candidate 
receives a clear majority of first choice votes, he is declared 
elected. But if no one receives such a majority, the second 
choices are added to the first choices. If this further calcula¬ 
tion does not give any candidate a majority, third choices are 
resorted to. In cities where the plan has been tried, prefer¬ 
ential voting is said to have proved markedly successful. 

445. Minority representation. — Related to the question of 
making sure that successful candidates represent a majority 


CHOOSING THE AGENTS OF GOVERNMENT 371 

of those voting is the problem of the adequate representation 
of the minority. The most notorious phase of this problem 
has grown out of our custom of electing one national Represent¬ 
ative from each of the congressional districts into which every 
state is divided. Often gerrymandering 1 is resorted to, that 
is to say, congressional districts are so arranged as to give the 
minority party overwhelming majorities in a few districts, 
while the dominant party is allowed to carry the remaining 
districts by very small majorities. The result is gross mis¬ 
representation in Congress, because the party having a 
bare majority often secures a large percentage of the repre¬ 
sentatives, while the minority is very inadequately repre¬ 
sented. 

Such misrepresentation also appears in connection with the 
choice of representatives to the state legislatures. 

In the attempt to remedy this type of misrepresentation 
various plans of proportional representation have been put 
forth. In Illinois members of the lower house of the state 
legislature have long been chosen as follows: Each state sen¬ 
atorial district is given the right to elect three assemblymen. 
Every elector in the district has the right to cast three votes, 
one each for three different persons, or two votes for one can¬ 
didate and one for another, or all for one candidate. By con¬ 
centrating its votes upon one candidate, an average minority 
can be sure of at least one representative in each district. A 
plan employed in several other states likewise aims to give 
each political party representation proportional to the number 
of votes cast by the party, regardless of whether the number 
is a minority or a majority. The principle of proportional 
representation, if fully worked out, and if made simple enough 
to be comprehended by the average voter, would insure majority 
rule and at the same time allow the adequate representation 
of minorities. 

446. Obstacles to intelligent voting. — Several obstacles to 
intelligent voting in this country are intimately connected 

1 The origin and nature of “gerrymandering” are discussed in 
Chapter XLII, Sections 542 and 543. 


372 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


with the long ballot. 1 The wave of democracy which swept 
the country in the last century had the double effect of increas¬ 
ing the number of elective offices, and of shortening the terms 
during which officials were allowed to hold office. A greatly 
lengthened ballot, together with the great frequency of elec¬ 
tions, has made it impossible for the average voter to exercise 
proper judgment at the polls. The difficulty of investigating 
the merits of the numerous candidates, or even of becoming 
familiar with their names, has discouraged many from voting. 

Of those who still pretend to reach independent decisions 
regarding candidates and issues, a considerable number really 
rely upon the direction and advice of professional politicians. 
The long ballot is the enemy of democracy, since it allows 
politicians, rather than the masses, to control actual govern¬ 
ment. 

447. Shortening the ballot. —- The chief remedy for these 
evils is the short ballot. The essential features of the short 
ballot plan are as follows: Popular elections should be resorted 
to only for the purpose of choosing those officials who have to 
do with public policies. For example, state voters ought to 
select only the governor, lieutenant governor, and members 
of the legislature; city voters ought to choose only the mayor 
and council; 2 while county voters ought to confine their atten¬ 
tion to a small group of county commissioners or supervisors. 
All other officials ought to be appointed, either directly by 
chief executive officers, or by means of the merit plan. Along 
with the shortening of the ballot, we should be increasingly 
willing to allow officials to hold office for longer terms. A 
supplementary feature of great value would be the establish¬ 
ment of such means of popular control as would protect the 
public against abuse of power by officials to whom these longer 
terms had been extended. 

1 The term “long ballot” refers to the fact that so many officials • 
are elective that the ballot on which their names appear is often of 
great length. The term “short ballot” refers to a reduction of the 
length of this ballot by making fewer officers elective. 

2 Where this' form of municipal government is still employed. 


CHOOSING THE AGENTS OF GOVERNMENT 373 

448. Merits of the short ballot. — There can be little doubt 
that a drastic shortening of the ballot would work a great im¬ 
provement in our electoral system. If the vast majority of 
officials were made appointive, the voter could give more time 
and thought to the consideration of a few important elective 
officials. A short ballot would lessen the possibilities of manip¬ 
ulation by rings and bosses. Unquestionably the interest of 
the voter would be quickened, since his influence upon the 
political life of his community would be more apparent. And 
not only would the short ballot make government more rep¬ 
resentative, but it would help to make it more responsible. 
If the majority of the administrative officials who are now elected 
were made appointive, responsibility for their conduct in office 
could be concentrated upon the chief executive officer appoint¬ 
ing them. 

449. The neglect to vote. —■ The last of the vital questions 
arising in connection with the choice of public officials is the 
matter of encouraging the enfranchised classes to use the ballot. 
The long ballot and the domination of party politics by rings 
and bosses discourage many from voting, nevertheless it is 
probably true that the slackness of the individual is the chief 
reason why voters neglect to use the ballot. This slackness 
may take the form of personal indolence, or of indifference to 
civic duty, or of preoccupation with the press of personal busi¬ 
ness. When individuals are busy with their private affairs the 
time needed for intelligent political action is often begrudged. 
Again, the duty to vote is not always a compelling one. When 
a duty is shared with innumerable other people, it appears 
less of a personal duty; when the individual notes that his 
fellow-citizens neglect that duty, his own tendency toward 
slackness is encouraged. In a democracy, as Lord Bryce points 
out, “everybody’s business becomes nobody’s business.” 

450. Importance of civic education. — The perfecting of our 
nominating and elective machinery, together with the shorten¬ 
ing of the ballot, is doing a good deal to awaken interest in 
the proper use of the vote. But the problems of democracy 
cannot be solved by purely mechanical means. If our voters 


374 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


are to regard the use of the ballot as a civic duty, we must 
rely largely upon civic education. Young people, soon to be 
voters, must be impressed with the responsibilities of democ¬ 
racy. They must be taught the vital importance of using the 
vote. In Belgium and Spain it is customary to penalize indi¬ 
viduals for neglecting to vote, but the idea of compulsory 
voting is repugnant to the American spirit. Moreover, law 
alone can neither build up nor sustain individual morality. 
The remedy for indifference to the ballot would seem to be 
not law, but the education of voters to their moral obligation 
toward the government under which they live. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What four questions arise in connection with the choice of public 

officials? 

2. Describe nomination by caucus. To what extent is this method 

still used? 

3. Why did the nominating convention arise? 

4. What forces were responsible for the decline of the convention? 

5. What is the nature and purpose of the Direct Primary? 

6. To what extent is the Direct Primary used in this country? 

7. What are the chief advantages of this device? 

8. What defects are urged against the Direct Primary? 

9. What does Professor Munro conclude as to the value of the Direct 

Primary? 

10. What is nomination by petition? 

11. What is the problem of majority representation? 

12. Discuss the nature and purpose of the preferential voting device. 

13. What is the purpose of gerrymandering? 

14. What is the nature and purpose of proportional representation? 

15. What is the relation of civic education to the proper use of the 

ballot? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxxv. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. ii, chapter Ixvi. 

3. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter 

xxx vii. 

4. Ray, Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics, chap¬ 

ter iv. 

5. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter vii. 


CHOOSING THE AGENTS OF GOVERNMENT 


375 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Is the number of elective officers in the United States greater or 

less than in Europe? (Bryce, page 146.) 

2. How is the caucus used at the present time? (Ray, page 75.) 

3. What is a “self-announced” candidate? (Ray, page 75.) 

4. Describe the workings of the “nomination by petition” device. 

(Ray, page 76.) 

5. What evils attend the unregulated caucus or primary? (Ray, 

pages 80-83.) 

6. Describe the work of the state nominating convention. (Guitteau, 

pages 467-468.) 

7. Outline the procedure in the national convention. (Guitteau, 

pages 471-472.) 

8. What are the two chief types of Australian ballot? (Reed, pages 

82-84.) 

9. What is the chief weakness of the Direct Primary? (Reed, page 87.) 

10. Name some states in which the presidential preference primary 

is used. (Reed, page 87.) 

11. How is a typical presidential preference primary conducted? 

(Reed, page 87.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Use of the caucus or primary in your community. 

2. The nominating convention in your state. 

3. The Direct Primary in your state or community. 

4. Legal control of the Direct Primary in your state. 

5. The extent to which nomination by petition is employed in your 

state. 

6. The representation of minorities in your state legislature. 

7. Recent ballot reform in your state. 

II 

8. The framework of the convention. (Ford, Rise and Growth of 

American Politics, chapter xvi; Ray, Introduction to Political 
Parties and Practical Politics , chapter v; Woodburn, Political 
Parties and Party Problems in the United States, chapters xi-xiii.) 

9. The nominating convention at work. (Bryce, The American 

Commonwealth, vol. ii, chapter lxx; Ray, Introduction to Political 
Parties and Practical Politics, chapter viii.) 

10. Structure of the Direct Primary. (Ray, Introduction to Political 

Parties and Practical Politics, chapter vi.) 


376 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

11. How the Direct Primary works. (Cleveland, Organized Democ¬ 

racy, chapter xvii; Woodburn, Political Parties and Party 
Problems in the United States, chapter xxi.) 

12. Effect of the Direct Primary upon party organization. (Holcombe, 

State Government in the United States, pages 193-204.) 

13. Direct nominations. (Reinsch, Readings on American State Gov¬ 

ernments, pages 383-394.) 

14. Tyranny of the majority. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, 

vol. ii, chapter lxxxiv.) 

15. Safeguarding the rights of the minority. (Gettell, Readings in 

Political Science, pages 322-325.) 

16. The nature of proportional representation. (Jones, Readings on 

Parties and Elections in the United States , pages 164-168; Com¬ 
mons, Proportional Representation.) 

17. Objections to the principle of proportional representation. (Gettell, 

Readings in Political Science, pages 324-325.) 

18. Preferential voting. (Massachusetts Constitutional Convention 

Bulletins, 1917.) 

19. The gerrymander. (Woodburn, Political Parties and Party Prob¬ 

lems in the United States, chapter xx.) 

20. The short ballot. (Childs, Short Ballot Principles; Massachusetts 

Constitutional Convention Bulletins, 1917.) 

21. What proportion of qualified voters actually use the ballot? (Hart, 

Practical Essays on American Government, No. 2.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

22. The desirability of extending the Direct Primary in your state. 

23. The closed versus the open primary. 

24. Advantages and disadvantages of nomination by petition. 

25. Advantages and disadvantages of holding local, state and National 

elections at different times. 


CHAPTER XXXVI 


HONESTY AND EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE 

451. Magnitude of the problem. —- How can we insure the 
honest and efficient administration of American government? 
Civic education and the perfection of nomination and election 
devices will do much toward securing this end, but there re¬ 
mains a troublesome question. This has to do with reorganiz¬ 
ing our legislative and administrative machinery, so that public 
officials may be allowed or encouraged to perform their duties 
in a responsible and effective manner. 

The problem is a vast one, the adequate treatment of which 
would require volumes. In this chapter, therefore, it will be 
necessary to confine the discussion to a few of the more pressing 
aspects of the problem. Of these the following are perhaps 
the more important: First, the defects in legislative procedure; 
second, the reorganization of state administration; third, 
budget reform; and fourth, the reform of municipal govern¬ 
ment. 

A. Defects in Legislative Procedure 

452. American legislatures are overworked. — It has fre¬ 
quently been pointed out that in the United States both state 
and National legislatures are overwhelmed with work. One 
reason for this is that the extension of government control 
over industrial corporations has rendered legislation more 
complex and greater in volume. The development of public 
interest in health, education, and related fields has of recent 
years markedly increased the amount of legislation. The 
custom which many legislators have of attempting to get as 
much special legislation for their respective districts as possible 
has likewise increased the number of laws upon the statute 
books. Lastly, it should be borne in mind that throughout 

377 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


378 

our history we have tended to believe legislation a cure-all for 
the defects of American life. This attitude has led to an exces¬ 
sive number of laws on subjects which in European countries 
are ordinarily left to the discretion of administrative officials. 

The combined effect of these developments has been to con¬ 
front our legislatures with so much business that honest and 
efficient legislation has been rendered exceedingly difficult. 

453. The committee system. — The chief defects of Ameri¬ 
can legislation appear in connection with the committee system 
which exists in both National and state legislatures. The 
committee system is the practice of dividing the legislative 
body into a large number of small groups or committees whose 
duty it is to consider various types of legislative business. 
The great merit of this device is that it expedites business. 
Indeed, the membership of our legislatures has become so 
large, and the amount of legislative business has increased so 
rapidly, that it is difficult to see how the committee system 
could be dispensed with. Without some such division of labor, 
chaos and endless delay would result. 1 

At the same time, the committee system has numerous faults. 
As Lord Bryce has pointed out, it destroys the unity of the 
legislature by breaking it up into a number of small groups 
among which there is no appreciable degree of coordination. 
The committee system limits debate. Since most committee 
business is transacted in secret session, the public is deprived 
of light upon public affairs. So minutely does the committee 
system divide legislative labor that even the most important 
piece of legislation cannot secure the attention of the best 
men. There is a diffusion of responsibility when various com¬ 
mittees work upon related problems without regard for the 
work being done by one another. Finally, the committee 
system throws power, unaccompanied by adequate responsibil¬ 
ity, into the hands of the committee chairman. 

454. Log-rolling. — Log-rolling is the trading of votes among 
individual legislators. Many of the faults of our state and 

1 For the part played by the committee system in the actual making 
of a law, see Chapter XLIII. 


HONESTY AND EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE 


379 


National legislatures are connected with this practice. Some 
legislators are so intent upon securing the passage of bills in 
which they are personally interested that they are willing to 
vote for a fellow-legislator’s pet bills, regardless of merit, pro¬ 
vided that legislator will return the favor. In this way special 
legislation often displaces bills which are drawn in a wider 
interest, — taxation, education, and other vital matters being 
neglected so that members may pursue personal ends. 

There is as yet no limit to the number of bills which may 
be introduced by state or National legislators. As a result 
there is a large number of unnecessary and hastily framed 
bills for which no one is definitely responsible. It is supposed 
to be the duty of all legislators to weed out bills which are 
poorly framed, or which are designed to promote special inter¬ 
ests. But in this case everybody’s business becomes nobody’s 
business. Such machine-like formalities as repeated readings 
of a bill, and a series of committee reports upon it, are generally 
substituted for individual scrutiny of a measure. 

455. Legislative reform. — The reform of legislative pro¬ 
cedure is attracting an increasing amount of attention among 
students of American politics. Many recent state constitu¬ 
tions define in detail the powers and procedure of the state 
legislature. A considerable number of states now have legis¬ 
lative reference bureaus, which enable legislators to keep track 
of legislation in other states, as well as to have ready access 
to important data bearing upon their own problems. There 
is a growing tendency for state legislatures to employ expert 
bill drafters to draw up laws on technical and highly-complex 
subjects. The expert bill drafter and the legislative bureau 
help materially to reduce the amount of defective and unwise 
legislation on the statute books. 

Much remains to be done, however. Important public bills 
ought invariably to be given first consideration by legislators, 
instead of, as is still many times the case, being put off until 
the end of the session in order to allow time for log-rolling. 
Filibustering and other time-wasting tactics should be curbed, 
because they tend to obstruct legislation. Many students of 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


380 

government advocate the extension of a plan already adopted 
in Massachusetts and a few other states, whereby all bills 
are given a public hearing. It is also clear that some method 
ought to be devised whereby the work of the various committees 
dealing with related subjects could be correlated and harmo¬ 
nized. Lastly, any measures which will reduce the amount of 
unnecessary and ill-advised legislation must prove of great 
value. 

B. The Reorganization of State Administration 

456. Defects in State administration. — Originally the state 
administration consisted of the Governor and a few elective 
officers, notably a Secretary of State, a Treasurer, and an 
Attorney-General. With the rapid development of the country, 
education, health, dependency, corporations, and similar matters 
have required more and more attention from state governments. 
To perform a host of new functions the state administration 
has expanded to include numerous commissioners, boards, and 
departments, some of them elected by the people, and some 
of them appointed by the Governor. 

This development has been haphazard, rather than orderly 
and planned. As a result, the administrative department is 
in most states a confused and tangled mass of boards and 
commissions, departments and single offices, often duplicating 
the work of one another, and largely working without any 
appreciable degree of coordination. In most states numer¬ 
ous administrative officers are elective, rather than appointive. 
This situation has two drawbacks: In the first place elective 
officials are responsible to no one but the people at large, and 
therefore these officials cannot be efficiently directed or super¬ 
vised by the Governor. In the second place, no definite person 
or persons can be held responsible for the conduct of this 
numerous body of elective administrative officials. 

457. The reform of State administration. — The reorganiza¬ 
tion and consolidation of state administrative offices is attract¬ 
ing an increasing amount of attention. In New Jersey, Massa¬ 
chusetts, Illinois, and several other states, administration has 


HONESTY AND EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE 381 

been notably simplified and systematized. The Illinois Admin¬ 
istrative Code of 1917, for example, consolidated the work of 
more than a hundred administrative offices into nine main 
departments. Each department is in charge of a director, 
appointed by the Governor, and each department is responsible 
to the Governor. Coordination of this type economizes time 
and energy, and saves the state’s money by reducing the num¬ 
ber of salaried officials. The centralization of the entire admin¬ 
istration under the Governor not only allows efficient super¬ 
vision, but permits the people to hold this official strictly 
accountable for the administration. 

The need of reform in state administration is recognized 
throughout the Union, but in most states the reorganization 
of administrative offices is retarded in two ways: First, the 
movement is opposed by officeholders who fear that their 
positions will be abolished by a consolidation of departments; 
second, in many states the consolidation of administrative 
offices is impossible without substantial amendments to the 
state constitution. 


C. Budget Reform 

458. The question of a budget. — In contrast to the lead¬ 
ing countries of Europe, our National government until very 
recently had no budget system. Some of the estimates were 
prepared by the administrative departments, under the direction 
of the President, while other estimates were prepared by various 
committees in the House of Representatives. In Congress there 
was little or no coordination between the various committees 
considering different appropriations. Nor were these committees 
properly coordinated with the administrative departments which 
were responsible for the original estimates. 

After appropriations had been granted, Congress had no 
scrutiny over the actual expenditure of the money. Thus the 
administrative departments might waste their appropriations, 
and then secure the passage of deficiency bills to make up the 
shortage. At no time did the various departments and com¬ 
mittees considering appropriations take into careful account 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


382 

the amount of government revenue. For this reason it was 
purely an accident if appropriations kept within the limits set 
by available revenue. 

A similar situation formerly prevailed in many of the states. 
The various administrative departments transmitted to the 
legislature an estimate of what each required for the coming 
year. These estimates, together with an unlimited number of 
appropriation bills introduced by individual members, were 
referred to various committees. Whether particular appro¬ 
priations were granted depended, not upon the amount of 
state revenue, but upon the political pressure brought to bear 
in favor of those measures. As in Congress, neither the execu¬ 
tive nor legislative branch of government, neither particular 
committees nor individual legislators, could be held wholly 
responsible for any appropriation measure. Excessive waste 
of public funds was the result. 

459. Budget reform. — The last two decades have witnessed 
a growing demand for a national budget. Under the direction 
of President Taft a commission investigated the general ques¬ 
tion of responsibility in the handling of Federal finances. The 
report of the committee favored a national budget, but the 
unfriendly attitude of Congress checked the movement. Inter¬ 
est in a national budget increased during the two terms of 
President Wilson, stimulated, especially, by the wave of post¬ 
war economy which swept the country after the signing of 
the armistice in November, 1918. In the spring of 1921, a bill 
establishing a budget system for the National government 
passed both houses of Congress, and on June 10, 1921, the 
bill became law by the signature of President Harding. This 
system is expected markedly to improve Federal finances. 

Practically unknown a few years ago, the budget movement 
among the states has spread so rapidly that at the present time 
almost all of the commonwealths have some sort of budget 
system. Three methods of preparing the budget are found 
among the several states. In some states, as in New York, 
budget-making is in the hands of the legislature; in other 
states, as in Wisconsin, both legislature and executive partici- 


HONESTY AND EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE 383 

pate in budget-making; in still other states, as in Illinois, 
the executive alone is responsible for the preparation of the 
budget. Many authorities claim that the last-named type of 
budget preparation is preferable but, in many states it is 
objected to as giving too much power to the executive. 

D. The Reform of Municipal Government 

460. Municipal reform: changes in the mayor-council plan. 

— Until the opening of the twentieth century practically every 
American city was governed under what is known as the mayor- 
council plan. This plan provides for a council to make the 
laws, and a mayor to act as executive. Formerly the council 
of the larger cities was very often composed of two chambers, 
a board of aldermen and a common council, but of late years 
the single-chambered council has become more and more 
common. 

The mayor-council plan still prevails in most American cities, 
particularly in the larger municipalities. But everywhere the 
growing demand for honesty and efficiency in government is 
leading to the reform of this system. In order to reduce the 
length of the ballot, the appointive power of the mayor is being 
increased. In the interests of economy and responsibility the 
administrative offices are in many cities being consolidated, 
coordinated and centralized under the mayor. To guard against 
the abuse of financial power there is in many commonwealths 
a tendency for state constitutions and statutes to limit the 
debt-incurring and franchise-granting powers of city councils. 

461. Municipal reform: the commission plan. —In Septem¬ 
ber, 1900, a tidal wave, seriously demoralized the mayor-council 
form of government in Galveston, Texas. To meet the emer¬ 
gency, the state legislature authorized the establishment of 
a new type of government, known as the commission plan. 
Instead of selecting a mayor and councilmen, the voters of 
Galveston now choose a commission of five officials. All of 
these commissioners are equal in power, except that one presides 
as mayor-president. The commission form of government 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


384 

spread rapidly, chiefly among the smaller cities, until in 1921 
there were more than 300 municipalities governed under this 
plan. In every case the commission has both legislative and 
executive powers. Collectively the commissioners act as a 
legislative body for the city, individually they head the various 
administrative departments. 

A number of important advantages are claimed for the 
commission form of city government. Responsibility is no 
longer divided among mayor and councilmen, but can be defi¬ 
nitely placed upon the small group of commissioners. It is 
believed by many that commission government allows a greater 
harmony of action than is possible under the mayor-council 
plan. Finally, it is declared, a group of five or seven com¬ 
missioners can administer city government with more efficiency 
than can a mayor and a numerous council. 

The opponents of commission government maintain, on the 
other hand, that the plan is undemocratic and oligarchical 
because it centralizes great power in the hands of a small group. 
The plan is said to increase the danger of corruption, since 
appropriating and spending powers are placed in the same 
hands. The opponents of this form of government also main¬ 
tain that it renders easier the corruption of the city administra¬ 
tion, since party bosses may easily gain control of a few com¬ 
missioners. A final, and perhaps the most serious, objection 
is that commission government does not go to the logical con¬ 
clusion in concentrating responsibility. There is no head to 
the administration, and no way of preventing the diffusion of 
responsibility among the commissioners. Jealousy among the 
commissioners has often led to friction and to working at 
cross-purposes. 1 

462 . Municipal reform: the city manager plan. — A recent 
modification of commission government is the city manager 
plan. This provides for a small elective commission, which 
does not itself administer the government of the city, but which 
chooses, instead, an experienced executive or city manager. The 

1 Of recent years a number of cities have abandoned commission 
government for either the mayor-council or the city manager plan. 


HONESTY AND EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE 


385 


city manager is supposed to be a non-partisan expert whose 
duty it is to administer the city in accordance with business 
principles. As the agent of the commission choosing him, the 
city manager enforces all ordinances, prepares annual estimates, 
and appoints all other city officials and employees. He also 
accepts full responsibility for the administration of the city’s 
affairs. 

The first city to apply the city manager plan was Dayton, 
Ohio, which began the experiment on January 1, 1914. Since 
that date the plan, or some variation of it, has been established 
in about a hundred cities. The city manager plan is an im¬ 
provement over the commission plan, in that it allows a greater 
concentration of responsibility. Another advantage over com¬ 
mission government is that the city manager plan insures a 
high grade of professional skill at the apex of the city’s admin¬ 
istration. The plan appears to work well in the smaller cities, 
provided a high grade manager can be found, and provided, 
also, that his position can be safeguarded against corrupting 
political influences. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What four questions are discussed in this chapter? 

2. Why are American legislatures overwhelmed with work? 

3. What are the merits and defects of the committee system? 

4. What is log-rolling, and why is it objectionable? 

5. What is the purpose of the legislative bureau? 

6. What is the function of the expert bill drafter? 

7. What are the chief defects of state administration? 

8. What has been done to correct these defects? 

9. Discuss the movement toward a national budget. 

10. What are the three forms of budget making in state government? 

11. What is the mayor-council plan, and what changes are being 

brought about in it? 

12. What is the commission plan of city government? How did it 

arise? What can be said for and against it? 

13. Compare the commission plan with the city manager plan. 

14. What is the chief merit of the city manager plan? 


3 86 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , chapter xxxvi. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter xlv. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter xxxi. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xli. 

5. Illinois Efficiency and Economy Committee, Report, 1915, pages 

18-24 and 74-77. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What are the chief defects of state government in general? (Bryce, 

page 556.) 

2. What is a book of estimates? (Reed, page 483.) 

3. Describe the procedure in Congress with regard to appropriation 

bills. (Reed, page 484.) 

4. How are provisions against special legislation evaded in some 

states? (Bryce, page 559.) 

5. Enumerate and briefly characterize the chief administrative offices 

in the various states. (Munro, pages 447-457.) 

6. What are the two distinctive features of state administration? 

(Munro, pages 457-458.) 

7. What are the chief defects of state administration? ( Illinois 

Report, pages 18-24.) 

8. Summarize the advantages of a reorganized and consolidated 

state administration. ( Illinois Report, pages 74-77.) 

9. What is the purpose of a “state auditing” system? (Reed, page 489.) 

10. Explain the need for uniform accounts for cities and counties? 

(Reed, pages 491-492.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 


1 


1. Interview any citizen of your community who has served in the 

state legislature. Ask for his personal opinion concerning the 
amount of legislative business to be transacted, the workings 
of the committee system, and the practice of log-rolling. 

2. Status of the expert bill-drafter and the legislative reference bureau 

in your state. If these devices have not been adopted, inter¬ 
view or write to a member of the state legislature concerning 
his opinion of these legislative aids. 

3. The enactment of appropriation bills in your state legislature. 


HONESTY AND EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE 


387 


4. The development of the administrative department in your state. 

5. Make a diagram showing the relations of the various boards and 

commissions embraced in the administrative department of 
your state. Point out instances of duplication and lack of 
coordination. 

Draw up a plan for consolidating these boards and commissions. 

6. The budget in your state. 

7. Form of government in your municipality. 

11 

8. The business of Congress. (McCall, The Business of Congress .) 

9. The faults of state legislatures. (Kaye, Readings in Civil Gov¬ 

ernment, pages 282-295.) 

10. The legislative reference bureau. (Reinsch, Readings on American 

State Government, pages 63-74.) 

11. History of state administration. (Illinois Constitutional Conven¬ 

tion Bulletins, 1920, pages 623-709.) 

12. The reorganization of state government. (Munro, The Govern¬ 

ment of the United States, chapter xxxvi.) 

13. A National budget. (Cleveland and Buck, The Budget and 

Responsible Government, chapters xviii-xx.) 

14. State budgets. (Cleveland and Buck, The Budget and Responsible 

Government, part iii; Munro, The Government of the United 
States, pages 466-469.) 

15. Revenues and expenditures of cities. (Beard, American City 

Government, chapter v.) 

16. Home rule for cities. (Beard, American City Government, chap¬ 

ter ii.) 

17. The mayor-council plan. (Munro, The Government of American 

Cities, chapters viii and ix.) 

18. The commission plan of city government. (Munro, The Govern¬ 

ment of American Cities, chapter xii; Massachusetts Consti¬ 
tutional Convention Bulletins.) 

19. The city manager plan. (Munro, The Government of American 

Cities, chapter xv; Massachusetts Constitutional Convention 
Bulletins.) 

20. The civil service as a career. (Foltz, The Federal Civil Service 

as a Career .) 


For Classroom Discussion 

21. Would shortening the length of the legislative session improve 
the quality of legislation? (See Bryce, The American Common¬ 
wealth, vol. i, chapter xlv.) 


388 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

22. Should there be a limit to the number of bills which a legislator 

may introduce? 

23. Methods of coordinating committees in your state legislature. 

24. Advantages and disadvantages of the commission form of govern¬ 

ment. (See the Debaters’ Handbook Series.) 

25. Advantages and disadvantages of the city manager plan. (See 

the Debaters’ Handbook Series.) 


CHAPTER XXXVII 


THE EXTENSION OF POPULAR CONTROL 

463 . Basis of popular control. — The fact that our govern¬ 
ment is a representative democracy entitles the voters to 
choose, direct, and control the public officials who act for the 
people at large. We have discussed a few of the methods 
whereby the nomination and election machinery might be 
improved; we must now go a step further and examine the 
means by which officeholders may be controlled. 

Supposedly, officials are chosen because the people believe 
them able and willing to discharge public duties with honesty 
and efficiency. But after officials have taken office it may 
develop that they have secured their positions by unfair means, 
or that they are dishonest, or that they are inefficient or other¬ 
wise unsatisfactory. Wherever it develops that officeholders 
no longer meet with the approval of the people, truly represent¬ 
ative government is impossible unless some method of effective 
popular control is found. 

A. Indirect Methods of Control 

464 . Refusal to reelect. — If the voters are dissatisfied 
with the conduct of their representatives, they may express 
their disapproval by refusing to reelect those representatives. 
This effects a measure of control, even though it is negative 
and not immediate. 

465 . Removal by the appointive authority. — If satisfaction 
is not rendered by subordinate administrative officials who 
have secured office through appointment, such officials may be 
removed from office by the authority appointing them. The 
power of the President, Governor, or mayor to appoint gen- 

389 


390 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


erally carries with it the power to remove from office. Such 
removal may be on the initiative of the appointing authority, 
or it may be in response to a popular demand. From the stand¬ 
point of the voters at large, however, this method of removal 
is indirect and often ineffective. 

466 . Impeachment. — Unsatisfactory officials are sometimes 
removed by the impeachment process. In the various states 
either a part or the whole of the legislature may sit as a court 
of impeachment for the trial of certain important officials 
accused of serious crime. In the National government the 
House of Representatives may initiate impeachment proceed¬ 
ings against the President, Vice-President, and all other civil 
officers of the United States. In such cases the Senate acts 
as a court of trial. 

Yet as a method of popular control impeachment is unsat¬ 
isfactory. It is indirect, since a part or the whole of the leg¬ 
islature acts for the people. It is slow and cumbersome. It 
does not extend over the entire list of public officials, nor over 
the entire range of offenses. 

467 . Control through the amending process. — The powers 
and duties of public- officials may be partially controlled through 
the formal amending process. In all states except New Hamp¬ 
shire the constitution may be amended through legislative 
action, subsequently ratified by popular vote. About two 
thirds of the states also provide for amendment by a con¬ 
stitutional convention composed of delegates elected by the 
voters. In a number of states, as we shall see a little later, 
constitutional amendment may also be secured by means of the 
Initiative and Referendum. 

The Federal Constitution may be formally amended in four 
different ways. The two most important methods are, first, by 
a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress, and second, by a 
convention called by Congress upon application of the legis¬ 
latures of two thirds of the states. In either case the amend¬ 
ment must be ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of 
the states. 

The formal amending process is an important part of our 


THE EXTENSION OF POPULAR CONTROL 


391 


governmental machinery, but as a method of popular control 
it is open to a number of criticisms. It is slow. It is indirect, 
for the people must rely chiefly upon their legislatures. 
Constitutional amendment cannot remedy all of the abuses of 
office. Furthermore, it is too drastic and far-reaching a remedy 
for many of the minor abuses of office. 

B. Direct Methods of Control 

468 . The Initiative. — In more than a third of the states 
popular discontent with the state legislature, together with 
the growing self-confidence of the voters, has led to the adop¬ 
tion of the Initiative. The Initiative is a device whereby any 
person or group of persons may draft a statute, and, on securing 
the signatures of a certain percentage of the voters, compel the 
state officials to submit the measure to popular vote. If at 
this voting the measure secures the required popular approval, 
it becomes law. 

When the measure is submitted to the voters directly after 
the fulfilment of the petition requirements, the device is known 
as the Direct Initiative. When, after passing the petition stage, 
the measure goes to the legislature and does not come before 
the people at the polls unless the legislature fails to accept it, 
the device is known as the Indirect Initiative. In a dozen 
states, chiefly in the West, the Initiative is also used to propose 
amendments to the state constitution. 

469 . The Referendum. — Early in our national history, it 
became an established principle that proposed constitutions 
or constitutional amendments should be referred to the voters 
for ratification. Of recent years about a third of the states, 
chiefly in the West, have extended the referendum device to 
cover ordinary legislation. This type of referendum may be 
defined as a plan whereby a small percentage of the voters may 
demand that practically any statute passed by the legislature 
must be submitted to the voters and approved by a specified 
majority before going into effect. 1 

1 A few types of laws are not subject to the Referendum. 


392 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


The Referendum is variously applied. In the Compulsory 
Referendum, which is the most common form, a measure must 
be submitted to the people whenever a designated number of 
voters petition that this step be taken. The Optional Referen¬ 
dum allows the state legislature to decide whether or not an 
enacted measure should be submitted to the people. The 
Statutory Referendum applies only to proposed statutes, while 
the Constitutional Referendum is limited to proposed amend¬ 
ments to the state constitution. 

470 . Direct Legislation.—The Initiative and the Referendum 
are found together in more than a dozen states. The two de¬ 
vices are supplementary: the Initiative is a positive instrument 
which may be used to set the wheels of direct legislation in 
motion; the Referendum is a negative measure which gives 
the people a potential veto on laws passed by the legislature. 
The Initiative and the Referendum are known collectively 
as Direct Legislation, that is, legislation directly by the people, 
as opposed to legislation enacted entirely through the legislature. 

471 . Advantages claimed for Direct Legislation. — Im¬ 
portant advantages are claimed for Direct Legislation. It is 
declared that the Initiative and Referendum keep lawmaking 
from being dominated by special interests. Because it consti¬ 
tutes a check upon constitutional conventions and state leg¬ 
islatures, Direct Legislation is said to make government more 
truly responsive to public opinion. It is claimed that Direct 
Legislation does not supplant, but rather supplements, improves, 
and renders more democratic, the formal legislative machinery. 
In several states, and especially in Oregon, it is claimed that 
the device stimulates political interest on the part of the voters. 
In Oregon the authorities print a pamphlet containing a state¬ 
ment of proposed laws, and summarizing the arguments of 
both advocates and opponents of each measure. Some weeks 
before the measure is to be decided at the polls this pamphlet 
is sent at public expense to every registered voter in the state. 

472 . Objections urged against Direct Legislation. — Critics 
of the Initiative and the Referendum maintain that Direct 
Legislation has many serious defects. It is declared that by 


THE EXTENSION OF POPULAR CONTROL 


393 


breaking down and weakening the state legislature, this type 
of legislation threatens the integrity of the framework of gov¬ 
ernment established by the state constitution. It is pointed 
out that Direct Legislation shifts lawmaking from a definite 
group (the state legislature), to a large and indefinite group 
of persons (the voters as a class), upon whom responsibility 
cannot be fixed. By robbing the legislature of power and re¬ 
sponsibility, the Initiative and Referendum are said to degrade 
rather than to improve that body: the best class of men is 
not attracted to a legislature which has been shorn of dignity 
and influence, and if the people rely upon the Initiative and 
Referendum, the voters deem it less necessary to choose honest, 
capable legislators. 

It is also maintained that the Initiative and Referendum do 
not promote independence of political thought, since only a 
mechanical “Yes” or “No” is demanded of the voters. In 
all states where Direct Legislation is applied, it is said, so few 
persons actually vote that legislation is really determined by 
a small minority of the voters. Again, the ease with which the 
Initiative and Referendum may be set in motion allows so 
many measures to be brought before the people that they 
cannot vote upon them intelligently. It is also said that Direct 
Legislation is primarily the instrument of the propagandist, 
because in many cases cranks and professional agitators mo¬ 
nopolize the privilege of circulating petitions. 

A serious defect of Direct Legislation is that the drafting of 
many laws requires detailed and technical information which 
the average voter is in no position to secure. In several states, 
notably in Maine, the recognition of this difficulty has led to 
the adoption of a modified Initiative. According to this plan, 
the state legislature may examine any measure proposed by 
the voters, enact an alternative measure of its own, and submit 
both to popular approval. The voters decide between the two. 
The difficulty with this plan is that it is not only expensive, 
but that by doubling the number of measures to be weighed and 
studied it imposes an added burden upon the voter at the 
polls. 


394 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


473 . The Recall. — The Recall is a device whereby certain 
elective officials who have not given satisfaction in office may 
be required to stand for reelection before the end of their terms. 
The Recall is set in motion when a petition has been duly 
signed by a specified percentage of the voters, usually at least 
twenty-five per cent. The Recall cannot be employed until 
the official in question has been in office a specified period, so 
that he shall have had an opportunity to give satisfaction before 
being subject to recall. Accused officials may forestall the 
Recall by resigning when a petition is launched against them, 
otherwise they must stand for reelection. The ballot which 
goes to the people contains, in brief, the objections to the official, 
and, in some states, also the reply of the accused officeholder. 
If defeated at the polls the accused official must retire from 
office; if vindicated, he continues in office during'the remainder 
of his term. 

The principle of the Recall was recognized in American 
state government before the end of the eighteenth century, 
but in its present application it is much younger. In its modern 
form the Recall was first used in 1903, when the city of Los 
Angeles applied it to elective municipal officials. Five years 
later Oregon adopted it for all state officers, and since 1908 
it has spread to a number of other states, most of them in the 
western part of the country. The Recall has been used chiefly 
against city officials, though in several states it may be applied 
to a majority of both local and state officials. In Oregon, 
California, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada, the Recall may 
also be used against judges. 

474 . Arguments for the Recall. — Those favoring the Recall 
maintain that it is the natural and legitimate expression of 
the right to remove unsatisfactory officials. It is pointed out 
that the Recall permits longer terms for elective officials, for 
if the voters know that they can use the Recall to remove officials 
who prove unsatisfactory, they will feel safe in electing those 
officials for relatively long terms. By reducing the number of 
elections, the device lightens the burdens of the voter. The Recall 
is said to be a wholesome reminder of preelection promises. 


THE EXTENSION OF POPULAR CONTROL 395 

It is also maintained that since the Recall is a threat, it en¬ 
courages officeholders to be honest and efficient. 

475 . Objections urged against the Recall. — In answer to 
the above arguments, the opponents of the Recall claim that 
the device encourages officials to curry popular favor, regard¬ 
less of public duty. It may also place officials at the mercy 
of popular passion and caprice. When it is applied to judges, 
the Recall threatens the integrity and independence of a branch 
of government which ought to be removed from popular clamor 
and prejudice. This last is a serious objection, for it may happen 
that judges subject to the Recall will hesitate to hand down 
decisions that may prove unpopular, however just those de¬ 
cisions may be. For this reason the extension of the Recall 
to judges is being strongly resisted. Even the most ardent 
advocates of the device are beginning to admit that the Recall 
is more applicable to administrative officials than to judges. 

476 . Status of the Recall. — A satisfactory decision upon 
the merits of the Recall is difficult because it is so recent a 
development and still so little used that few data are available. 
The state-wide Recall has been in existence for a number of 
years, yet few state officials have been removed by it. Los 
Angeles used the Recall to unseat the mayor in 1904 and in 
1909, and in 1911 the device was used against the mayor of 
Seattle. But the Recall is primarily a threat, and is rarely used. 
In view of this fact, the arguments for and against the device 
rest upon theory rather than upon actual experience. The 
Recall has great possibilities for good if wisely administered, 
but it may become an evil influence if carelessly or revengefully 
used. 

477 . Significance of popular control. — The development of 
the Initiative, the Referendum, and the Recall indicates a 
growing impatience with the abuses of party power, the evils 
of the long ballot, and the corruption and inefficiency of many 
legislative bodies. It is significant that direct popular control 
has accompanied the widespread movement to reform municipal 
government, and that it is playing an increasingly important 
part in the movement to reform state administration. 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


396 

Up to the present time, the Initiative, the Referendum, and 
the Recall have been confined chiefly to the West, where po¬ 
litical problems are less acute than in the East, and where, 
too, the tendency toward direct participation in government 
has always been marked. Nevertheless, there is some indication 
that the future will see an extension of direct popular control, 
not only in the West, but also in other parts of the country. 
Whether or not this extension is desirable we cannot now say. 
But certainly it is an interesting and important development, 
and one demanding careful study and mature deliberation on 
the part of those who seek to make American government 
highly effective. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What is the basis of popular control? 

2. Name several methods of indirect control, and point out the 

objections to each. 

3. What is the Initiative? 

4. Distinguish between the Direct and the Indirect Initiative. 

5. What is the Referendum? 

6. What is the extent of the Referendum in this country? 

7. What is Direct Legislation? 

8. Summarize the arguments in favor of Direct Legislation. 

9. What objections are urged against Direct Legislation? 

10. What is the Recall? 

11. To what extent has the Recall been adopted in this country? 

12. What arguments are used to justify the use of the Recall? 

13. What are the chief objections to the Recall? 

14. What is the present status of the Recall? 

15. What is the significance of direct popular control? 


Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxxvii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xxii.i. 

3. Massachusetts Constitutional Convention Bulletins (1917), No. 6. 

4. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter xxv. 

5. Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government, chapters xiii, 

xiv, and xv. 


THE EXTENSION OF POPULAR CONTROL 


397 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Summarize the principles underlying the Initiative and Refer¬ 

endum. (Beard, pages 469-471.) 

2. Name some states in which the Initiative and the Referendum 

have been established. (Beard, page 463.) 

3. Describe the workings of the Initiative. (Munro, page 506.) 

4. Describe the workings of the Referendum. (Munro, pages 507-508.) 

5. To what extent has there been an attempt to apply the Initiative 

and Referendum to national legislation? (Beard, pages 465-466.) 

6. In what ways does Direct Legislation establish a system of mi¬ 

nority rule? (Munro, page 515.) 

7. To what extent does Direct Legislation delay law-making? (Lowell, 

pages 226-228.) 

8. What is the nature of the laws enacted by the Initiative? 

(Lowell, pages 205-206.) 

9. What has been the attitude of the courts toward the Initiative 

and Referendum? (Massachusetts Bulletin, pages 41-43.) 

10. Enumerate the forms of the Recall. (Beard, pages 472-473.) 

11. What part did the Recall play in early American history? (Munro, 

page 516.) 

12. Describe the Recall election. (Munro, page 520.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. The proportion of the public officials of your municipality who 

may be removed by an appointing authority. 

2. Impeachment in your state. (Consult the state constitution.) 

3. Extent to which the constitution of your state has been amended. 

4. The Initiative in your state. 

5. The Referendum in your state. 

6. Extent to which the Initiative and the Referendum are found 

together in your state. 

7. The Recall in your state. If this device has not been adopted 

in your state, find out whether or not its adoption is being 
agitated. 


11 

8. Development of Direct Legislation in the United States. (Munro, 

The Initiative, Referendum and Recall, chapter iv.) 

9. Representative versus Direct Legislation. (Munro, The Initiative, 

Referendum and Recall, chapters vii and viii.) 


398 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

10. The Initiative and Referendum in Oregon. (Kaye, Readings in 

Civil Government, pages 295-303; Munro, The Initiative, Ref¬ 
erendum and Recall , chapters ix and x.) 

11. The Initiative in Switzerland. ( Annals , vol. xliii, pages 110-145.) 

12. The Referendum in Switzerland. ( Annals , vol. xliii, pages 110-145; 

Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government , chapter xii.) 

13. Development of the Recall. (Munro, The Initiative, Referendum 

and Recall, chapter xii.) 

14. The Recall in Los Angeles. (Munro, The Initiative, Referendnm 

and Recall, chapter xiv.) 

15. The Recall in Oregon. (Munro, The Initiative, Referendum aud 

Recall, chapter xi.) 

16. The Recall in Seattle. (Munro, The Initiative, Referendum and 

Recall, chapter xv.) 

17. The Recall in Switzerland. ( Annals, vol. xliii, pages 110-145.) 

18. The Judicial Recall. ( Annals, vol. xliii, part iii.) 

19. Judicial decisions relating to the Initiative, Referendum and 

Recall. (Beard and Schultz, Documents on the State-wide Initia¬ 
tive, Referendum and Recall, chapters xxxi-xxxvi.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

20. Should the Initiative and Referendum be applied to National 

legislation? 

21. Do the Initiative and Referendum increase the burden upon the 

voter? 

22. The effect of the Initiative and Referendum upon the character 

of the state legislature. 

23. Should the Recall be applied to judges? 

24. Merits and defects of such forms of direct popular control as exist 

in your state. 

25. Future development of direct popular control in the United States. 


CHAPTER XXXVIII 


PUBLIC OPINION 

478 . The nature of Public Opinion. — One of the most 
powerful influences in any community is that intangible some¬ 
thing which we call Public Opinion. Though everyone is 
familiar with it, the term Public Opinion is difficult to define. 
Public Opinion is intimately connected with the opinion of the 
individual, and yet is something more than a mere total of 
individual opinions. 

Every man has a set of opinions or beliefs which are charac¬ 
teristic of his native instincts, his home training, and other 
influences which have helped mould his personality. Wherever 
individuals associate, the opinions of each person affect and 
are affected by the opinions of his fellows. As the result of 
this interaction we think of public opinion as being made up 
of a number of different currents, each embodying a view, a 
belief, or a doctrine. Where many individuals support a given 
view with moderate intensity, or where a small group feels 
very intensely upon a given topic, we say that Public Opinion 
has formed. 

Public Opinion may be defined as a definite focus of individual 
opinions which are either numerous or intense enough to con¬ 
stitute a recognizable force, and to exert a noticeable influence 
upon the life of the community. 

479 . Public Opinion and law. — It is characteristic of the 
human mind that we perceive concrete and tangible things 
more easily than we understand abstract and intangible forces. 
Law is a definite, concrete, almost tangible thing; we perceive 
its outlines, recognize its various forms, and understand its 
nature and significance. But it is less easy to understand 
that law may be only a symptom of Public Opinion, only the 
concrete expression of intangible community sentiment. There 

399 


400 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


is an interaction between law and Public Opinion, but the latter 
is the more fundamental and the more powerful. Public Opinion 
which is vigorous and well-organized may force the enactment 
of law; on the other hand, a law which runs counter to the 
prevailing state of Public Opinion may cease to be effective, 
because individuals will not cooperate in enforcing it. Law 
half leads, half follows Public Opinion, and when legislators 
are skilled in discerning and influencing the mental attitudes 
of the people, law and Public Opinion pretty well keep pace 
with one another. 

480 . Public Opinion in a democracy. — The beliefs and 
opinions of the masses have been an important force even in 
the most absolute of monarchies; in representative democracies 
Public Opinion is even more important. Under a democratic 
form of government the attitude of the masses tends to be one 
of inquiry, self-confidence, and self-expression upon public 
questions. Lord Bryce has pointed out that because democracy 
permits and encourages freedom of discussion, Public Opinion 
in a country like the United States becomes much more powerful 
than in less democratic countries. 

And not only is Public Opinion more powerful in a democ¬ 
racy, but democracy is impossible without the regular exercise 
of a well-informed and sensible opinion by the majority of its 
citizens. Democracy emphasizes government by the people 
rather than government of the people. Thus if genuine democ¬ 
racy is to be developed and sustained, the people must cultivate 
an attitude of constant vigilance against civic indifference. 
Nominations and e^ctions are focal periods in government, 
but government is a continuous obligation which requires 
constant rather than intermittent attention. Where civic inter¬ 
est is neither strong nor consistent, the virtues of democracy 
may be diffused in blind and leaderless wanderings. 

481 . Development of Public Opinion. — Even though never 
definitely focused or expressed, the vague beliefs, fancies, 
and prejudices of individuals may influence public affairs 
by causing community leaders to feel that “the people” will 
or will not tolerate a contemplated line of action. 


PUBLIC OPINION 


401 


But the influence exerted will be much greater if the opinions 
of the individual are definite, and if there is some method of 
clarifying, coordinating and expressing the opinions of groups 
of individuals upon a given subject. If the opinions of the 
individual are to be definite and concrete, he must habitually 
come in contact with forceful persons and institutions; if the 
opinions of various individuals are to be coordinated and ex¬ 
pressed there must be either physical contiguity among people, 
or else adequate means of transportation and communication. 

We may now consider a few of the forces which serve to 
make definite and to organize the opinions of individuals. 

482. The home. — Certainly no institution exerts a more 
powerful influence upon the beliefs and opinions of the individ¬ 
ual than the home. Our basic ideals and traditions pass from 
generation to generation through the continuity of the family 
life. During the plastic and impressionable period of infancy 
the child is constantly under the influence of the parents. At 
first fashioned largely by the parents, the beliefs and senti¬ 
ments of the growing child are later modified by contact with 
other family members. When children go out to the school, 
the church or the workshop, beliefs and attitudes encountered 
outside the home are weighed in the light of family teachings. 
When young men and young women make homes of their 
own, they in turn imprint upon their children a complex of 
tradition and opinion which is the compromise result of their 
own family training, modified by influences later encountered 
outside the family circle. 

483. The school. — Supplementing, and in some respects 
supplanting, the influence of the home is the influence of the 
school. While still in the plastic stage the child is given over to 
the moulding influences of teacher and fellow-students. New 
contacts are made, new opinions are encountered, new avenues 
of thought and action are opened to the young and growing 
mind. Of recent years the tendency of the school to identify 
itself more closely with the practical life of the community is 
increasing the power and influence of that institution. The 
school is proving a genuine means of transition between the 


402 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

relatively localized influence of the home and the more widely 
diffused influences of the community. 

484 . The church. — Closely related to the school as a deter¬ 
minant of opinion is the church. In the early stages of social 
development the home was equally the center of intellectual 
and religious life, but in recent times the church and the school 
have become separate, though related, institutions. The child 
spends more time in school than in the company of religious 
instructors other than his parents, but affiliation with the church 
often continues throughout the life of the individual, while the 
average child leaves school at a relatively early age. From the 
standpoint of Public Opinion, the primary importance of the 
church is that it exerts a powerful influence upon the ideals 
and conduct of both young and old. And as in the case of the 
school, this influence is being deepened by the increasingly 
close connection between the church and the practical life of 
the community. 

485 . The theatre. — The theatre has always been a vital 
influence in man’s aesthetic and emotional life. Drama, opera, 
comedy, and burlesque are variant forms, but they are alike 
in that they influence the audience. In the last decade the 
moving picture has greatly increased the power and influence 
of the theatre. The low price of the moving picture brings the 
theatre to millions who formerly were excluded from any ap¬ 
preciable degree of theatrical entertainment. The daily moving 
picture attendance of ten million people, the stimulating effect 
of music, the strong emotional appeal, the tender age of many 
of the audience, and the growing use of the moving picture as 
propaganda, all combine to make the film a powerful factor 
in the formation of Public Opinion. 

486 . The press. — The press is the nervous system of the 
nation. Supplemented by other means of communication, and 
aided by agencies of transportation, the press coordinates 
individuals not physically contiguous, and thus enables them 
to act in concert. It lets everybody know what everybody 
else is thinking, or at least what they are supposed to be think¬ 
ing. The forms of the printed page are infinitely various: 


PUBLIC OPINION 


403 


daily papers, weeklies, monthlies, pamphlets, and books, — all 
of these are increasingly numerous. Statesmen, teachers, re¬ 
formers, propagandists, and professional writers combine to 
turn out tons of printed matter a day. Pictures, jokes, contests, 
and stories are resorted to for the purpose of attracting atten¬ 
tion. Editorials, advertisements, and news articles are among 
the vehicles of expression used. Printed matter does not wait 
for the individual to seek it out, but instead it goes to him. In 
various forms it encounters him in the street, stares at him 
from shop windows and billboards, forces itself upon his atten¬ 
tion in the street cars, and knocks at the door of his private 
dwelling. In all its forms, it should be remembered, the domi¬ 
nant aim of the printed page is to influence the individual, to 
cause him to do something or to refrain from doing something. 

487. Growing importance of Public Opinion. — Despite the 
volume of European immigration to this country, American 
ideals and institutions are rendering our population more and 
more homogeneous, and thus more open to unifying influences. 
The increasing ease of transportation and communication is 
everywhere making isolation more difficult. Not only are the 
school, the church, the press, and the theatre widening in 
scope and increasing in influence, but new forms of expression 
are developing. There is a growing number of private organi¬ 
zations advocating social, economic, or political reforms. The 
popularization of psychology has encouraged the rise of innu¬ 
merable forms of propaganda designed to influence the opinions 
of the community and nation. Occupational and social groups 
are everywhere organizing, clarifying their opinions, and ex¬ 
pressing common principles in the effort to influence the public 
mind. All of these factors combine to increase the importance 
of Public Opinion in present-day American life. 

488. Dangers of unregulated Public Opinion. — The growing 
power of Public Opinion brings with it increased possibilities 
for good, but also increased possibilities for evil. In an im¬ 
portant sense, this is the age of the propagandist, the crank 
reformer, and the subsidized newspaper, the age of the agitator 
who spreads lies through anonymous letters, unsigned posters, 


404 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


and irresponsible whisperings. The individual must be con¬ 
stantly on his guard against this flood; he must recognize 
that Public Opinion is often capricious, and that a sudden 
hysteria may inflict untold injury. The morality of a mob is 
inferior to the morality of the individuals composing the mob, 
because in a mob the sense of power is dominant and the sense 
of responsibility is suppressed. Properly speaking a mob de¬ 
pends upon physical contiguity, but the coordinating influence 
of rapid transportation and communication may create a mob 
spirit between individuals not physically in contact. When 
propaganda lashes into a passion groups of people in widely 
separated areas, democracy becomes the most dangerous of 
all forms of government: there is no sure hand upon the helm, 
the people control en masse , in a burst of passion they may 
lay waste the social heritage of centuries. 

489. Freedom a partial safeguard against unsound Public 
Opinion. — While democracy facilitates the creation of the mob 
spirit, it likewise carries within itself at least a partial remedy 
for unsound Public Opinion. Men’s opinions are infinitely 
various: the same community that produces the fanatic or the 
impractical idealist generally produces sensible and practical 
men as well. In politics men everywhere tend to divide into 
a radical group and a conservative group, between which control 
of the government oscillates. 

Where freedom of expression is permitted, the existence of 
these two antagonistic camps is automatically a safeguard of the 
public welfare. Any one of a number of groups of people might 
ruin the country if left to themselves. But they are not left 
to themselves. Their opponents are constantly criticizing and 
checking them. When cranks launch propaganda, conservative 
critics launch counter-propaganda; when special interests at¬ 
tempt to influence the public mind, public-spirited individuals 
or organizations force both sides of the question before the 
public. When public officials neglect their duties, a thousand 
discerning men are ready to shout the fact from the housetops. 
Though the majority party secures control of government, 
the minority is never idle. Rather, it is constantly watching. 


PUBLIC OPINION 


405 


waiting, marshaling opinion against the majority, calling public 
attention to the mistakes of their opponents, and agitating for 
a change of administration. 

490 . The guidance of Public Opinion. — Let us briefly con¬ 
sider the question of guiding or directing the formulation of 
sound Public Opinion. In a free country, such guidance may 
sometimes prove dangerous, and yet careful direction of the 
formulation of Public Opinion is justified by two facts: First, 
the formulation of sound opinion is retarded by the great 
difficulty of securing adequate information on the great prob¬ 
lems of modern civilization. Here the individual needs some 
help. Second, everyone who can distinguish between license 
and liberty must agree that we should limit the influence of 
individuals and institutions which suppress minority opinion, 
and distort facts in the effort to pervert Public Opinion. 

These considerations suggest two distinct lines of action. 

First, we can aid in the formulation of sound opinion by 
making it easier for the individual to secure data and infor¬ 
mation on current topics. The extension and perfection of the 
postal service, the improvement of our system of transportation, 
the spread of the school and library, and possibly the free 
distribution of literature dealing with the nature and functions 
of government, these and similar measures would prove helpful. 

Second, law and moral education ought to cooperate in 
suppressing influences which seek delib i rately to poison or per¬ 
vert the public mind. Free speech is a priceless element in 
democracy, but just as we must harmonize individual liberty 
with the interests of the group, so we must prevent the use 
of free speech for criminal purposes. Especially ought the 
press and the school to be encouraged to give both sides of 
debatable questions. Every agency dealing with the issues of 
American life, indeed, ought to be careful not to distort those 
issues by suppressing or misusing facts. Above all, we must 
be careful not to pander to low ideals by emphasizing the 
negative and destructive side of our problems. 

491 . Responsibility of the individual. — A progressive civi¬ 
lization confers more and more benefits upon the individual, 


406 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

but his duties and responsibilities increase with equal speed. 
As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “ It is not difficult to be 
virtuous in a cloistered and negative way,” but honestly and 
effectively to fulfill the obligations of citizenship in a complex 
society is less easy. And yet the need of individual responsibil¬ 
ity is infinitely greater in a modern community than among 
the members of an isolated and self-sufficient group. When 
small isolated villages were the dominant form of American 
settlement, the laxness of one group did not vitally affect the 
welfare of other groups. But so entwined are the present-day 
citizens of the United States that the acts of one individual 
may* vitally affect the national well-being. The carelessness 
of a food canner on the Pacific coast may cost the life of a 
family on the Atlantic seaboard; a swindle originating in the 
East may demoralize individuals throughout the country. The 
obligations of citizenship have become national as well as local; 
in thought and in action the individual must function, not 
only in terms of his locality, but in terms of the nation as well. 

492 . The power of the individual. — Measuring himself 
against more than a hundred million of his fellows, the average 
American citizen is likely to be overpowered by the apparent 
futility and powerlessness of his personal opinions. And yet the 
power of the nation is only the result of the combined influences 
of its individual citizens. All power is with the individual. 
However much the absolute monarchy may have suppressed the 
individual, in a democracy he can become a vital force in govern¬ 
ment. We are too fond of taking censuses on the one hand, 
and of deferring to governmental mechanisms on the other. 
The individual is master of his fate, and he is the ultimate 
determinant of government. If government is sound, the 
misbehavior of the individual can ruin it; if government is 
defective, the assumption of responsibility by the individual 
must ultimately reform it. We do not need a fool-proof govern¬ 
ment half as much as we need active, responsible individuals 
to run the government we already have. “How long will 
American democracy last?” a European statesman once asked. 
“Just so long,” the answer might have been, “as Americans 


PUBLIC OPINION 


407 


honestly and intelligently grapple with the problems confront¬ 
ing them, holding themselves individually responsible for the 
conduct of government, and seeking consistently to exert an 
influence upon their community life which shall be constructive 
and inspirational.” 

Questions on the Text 

1. Define Public Opinion. 

2. What is the relation of Public Opinion to law? 

3. What is the importance of Public Opinion in a democracy? 

4. Why should the opinions of individuals be clarified and organized? 

5. Describe the importance of home life in this regard. 

6. How does the school affect the opinions of individuals? 

7. What is the significance of the church with regard to Public Opinion? 

8. What is the effect of the theatre upon Public Opinion? 

9. Explain clearly the relation of the press to Public Opinion. 

10. What are the dangers of unregulated Public Opinion? 

11. In what way is freedom a safeguard against unsound Public Opinion? 

12. What two facts justify the guidance of Public Opinion? 

13. Discuss the relation of Public Opinion to the individual. 

14. What can be said as to the power of the individual? 

Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy, chapter xxxviii. 

Or all of the following: 

2. Brewer, American Citizenship , chapter v. 

3. Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. i, chapter xv; vol. ii, chapter xliv. 

4. Lowell, Popular Government and Public Opinion, chapter iii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is the relation of homogeneity of population to Public 

Opinion? (Lowell, pages 34 - 35 -) 

2. Why must the minority be free to express its dissent? (Lowell, 

pages 36-37.) 

3. How is the drift of Public Opinion to be determined? (Bryce, 

vol. i, pages 155-156.) 

4. What is the relation of Public Opinion to voting? (Bryce, vol. i, 

pages 159-161.) 

5. Compare Public Opinion in the United States with Public Opinion 

in other countries. (Bryce, vol. ii, pages 112-113.) 

6. Compare the press «of the United States with that of Europe. 

(Bryce, vol. ii, page 118.) 


4 <d8 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

7. What is the relation of Public Opinion to local self-government? 

(Bryce, vol. ii, pages 115-116.) 

8. What is the relation of Public Opinion to social legislation? (Bryce, 

vol. ii, page 126.) 

9. What is the great defect of Public Opinion? (Bryce, vol. i, 

page 162.) 

10. What is the one great clear purpose in civic life? (Brewer, pages 

120-121.) 

11. What qualities must we possess in order to carry out this purpose? 

(Brewer, pages 120-121.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Make a list of some of your beliefs and opinions concerning the 

recent World War, and try in each case to trace the origin of 
each belief or opinion. 

2. Toward which political party are you inclined? To what extent 

is this inclination due to (a) the influence of your parents; 
(&) what you have read in the newspapers; ( c ) what you have 
personally observed? 

3. Make a list of the opinions which you originally acquired in your 

home, and which have since been modified by what you have 
studied in school. 

4. To what extent are your personal standards of conduct traceable 

to what you have seen at the theatre? 

5. List the private organizations in your community which exist for 

the purpose of advocating reforms of various kinds. 

6. Make a study of the forms of propaganda utilized in a single 

copy of any metropolitan newspaper. 

7. To what extent does your local press give both sides of debatable 

questions? 

II 

8. The nature of Public Opinion. (Lowell, Public Opinion and 

Popular Government , chapters i and ii.) 

9. Relation of Public Opinion to law. (Forman, The American 

Democracy , pages 235-238.) 

10. Government by Public Opinion. (Bryce, The American Common¬ 

wealth , vol. ii, chapter lxxvii.) 

11. The type of questions to which Public Opinion can apply. (Lowell, 

Public Opinion and Popular Government, chapter iv.) 

12. The relation of tradition to Public Opinion. (Bryce, Modern 

Democracies, vol. i, chapter xiii.) 


PUBLIC OPINION 


409 


13. Private associations for the advancement of group interests. 

(Young, The New American Government and its Work, chap¬ 
ter xxvii.) 

14. Tyranny of the majority. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, 

vol. ii, chapters lxxxiv and lxxxv.) 

15. Attitude of the individual in a democracy. (Speare and Norris, 

World War Issues and Ideals, pages 170-182.) 

16. The obligations of citizenship. (Cleveland, Organized Democracy, 

chapter viii; Brewer, American Citizenship, chapters i-iv.) 

17. The hindrances to good citizenship. (Bryce, The Hindrances 

to Good Citizenship.) 

18. Leadership in a democracy. (Bryce, Modern Democracies, vol. ii ; 

chapter lxxvi.) 

19. Relation between freedom and responsibility. (Hadley, The 

Relation between Freedom and Responsibility in the Evolution 
of Democratic Government.) 

20. The influence of ideals upon civic conduct. (Adams, The Power 

of Ideals in American History.) 

21. Wherein Public Opinion fails. (Bryce, The American Common¬ 

wealth, vol. ii, chapter lxxxvi.) 

22. Wherein Public Opinion succeeds. (Bryce, The American Com¬ 

monwealth, vol. ii, chapter lxxxvii.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

23. Suppose the public highways in your locality were in bad con¬ 

dition. How would you go about it to remedy the situation? 

24. Which has more influence upon the opinions of people, the school 

or the press? 

25. Are the Initiative and the Referendum adequate methods of 

ascertaining the prevailing state of Public Opinion? 

26. Is freedom of speech an adequate safeguard of the rights of 

minorities? 

27. To what extent, if to any, should Federal and state authorities 

distribute free literature concerning the nature and functions 
of American government? 

28. How might cooperation in the study of civic problems be pro- 

moted in your community? 


C. Our Relations with Other Nations 
CHAPTER XXXIX 

THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

a . Early Attitude of the United States 

493 . The policy of isolation. — From colonial times on down 
to the World War, the foreign policy of the United States may 
fairly be said to have been one of isolation. We were intent 
upon working out our own national destiny, and we earnestly 
sought, both to hold ourselves aloof from the affairs of the Old 
World, and to keep the nations of the Old World from inter¬ 
fering with purely American affairs. Of course we have always 
had various relations with other nations, so that when we speak 
of our traditional foreign policy as one of isolation, we do not 
mean that the United States has tried to avoid every sort of 
intercourse with foreign governments. We mean, rather, that 
this country habitually made strenuous efforts to avoid all 
international relations which might involve us in unpleasant or 
trouble-breeding situations. 

494 . The attitude of Washington. — The policy of isolation 
has rested upon two cornerstones. The first of these was laid 
by our first President, George Washington. 

President Washington was firmly convinced that the best 
interests of the United States required us to keep ourselves 
free from the entanglements of European politics. During 
Washington’s presidency, the French monarchy was overthrown 
and the revolutionary party gained control of the country. 
This French revolutionary party became involved in war with 
a number of other European countries. We were asked to help 
the cause of the French Revolution, but the President refused 
to permit this country to be drawn into the struggle. He stated 
his position in a formal proclamation of neutrality, issued in 

410 


THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 411 


1793. In this proclamation he declared it to be the policy of 
the United States to keep out of European quarrels, and it was 
in pursuance of this policy that he declined to draw his country 
into the war in which the French revolutionists had become 
involved. 

Toward the end of Washington’s second term as President, 
he prepared his so-called “Farewell Address” to the American 
people. In this address he declared that “the great rule of 
conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our 
commercial relations, to have with them as little political con¬ 
nection as possible.” Why, he asked, should we, as a free and 
sovereign nation, interweave our destiny with that of any part 
of Europe? Why should we “entangle our peace and pros¬ 
perity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, 
humor, or caprice? It is our true policy,” he concluded, “to 
steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the 
foreign world.” 

495 . The Monroe Doctrine. — The first cornerstone of our 
policy of isolation was laid by President Washington; the 
second cornerstone of that policy was laid by President Monroe 
in 1823 by a public statement or declaration known in history 
as the Monroe Doctrine. Let us see what gave rise to the 
Monroe Doctrine. 

During the Napoleonic Wars, a number of South American 
countries had freed themselves from the rule of Spain, formerly 
their mother country. The United States had formally recog¬ 
nized the independence of these countries. At the close of the 
Napoleonic Wars, however, a number of European nations 
formed themselves into a “Holy Alliance” and proposed to 
help Spain regain possession of her former Colonies in the New 
World. At about the same time, Russia was making plans to 
establish a colonial empire in Alaska. 

President Monroe was alarmed by these developments, and 
in his message to Congress in 1823, he took a definite stand 
against what he called the interference of European powers in 
the affairs of the New World. He declared that the continents 
of the Western Hemisphere were “henceforth not to be con- 


412 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


sidered as subjects for future colonization by any European 
powers.” Furthermore, he went on to say, the United States 
would be obliged to consider as an unfriendly act any attempt 
of the European powers to extend their form of government to 
the countries of the Western Hemisphere. In turn, he was 
careful to add, the United States would consistently refrain from 
meddling in European politics. 

These statements form the core of what has since been called 
the Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine has been interpreted dif¬ 
ferently by different people, but it has always been of funda¬ 
mental importance in our foreign policy. It re-asserted and 
confirmed Washington’s policy of isolation, and it made clear 
to Europe that we considered the destinies of the Old World 
and the destinies of the New World to be separate and distinct. 

b . Types oe International Relations 

496 . Social relations. — We shall now turn to a brief con¬ 
sideration of the types of international relations. 

The student may not have thought of it in this sense, but 
social relations exist between nations, just as they exist between 
individuals within a family, or between neighborhoods within a 
city, or between cities within a nation. Between the United 
States and the various countries of Europe, for example, there 
is a never-ceasing flow of travelers. Many of these people are 
leaving their homes to go abroad, to study in foreign countries, 
to see sights strange to them, to become acquainted with the 
inhabitants of different lands, and to enjoy the numerous other 
advantages of travel. And due to the growing perfection and 
cheapness of transportation, this tourist business is increasing. 
In the summer months, especially, there are hundreds of thou¬ 
sands of people in foreign countries, working, resting, playing, 
making new friends, even marrying and dying abroad. Some 
of the closest and most intimate of international relations arise 
from this growing habit of traveling in foreign lands. 

497 . Commercial relations. — Another type of international 
relations may be designated under the term “ foreign trade.” 


THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 413 


As we learned in an earlier part of this text, modern business 
involves a great deal of buying and selling. Much of this 
exchange of goods goes on between citizens of our own country, 
but to an increasing extent this exchange is also between citi¬ 
zens of the United States and citizens of foreign nations. This 
phase of American business is known as our foreign trade. Our 
foreign trade runs into many millions of dollars annually, and 
gives rise to numerous complicated relations, as, for example, 
the complex problem of the tariff, which we discussed in 
Chapter XXIX. 

The government of the United States has established a con¬ 
sular service for the advancement of our foreign trade. Con¬ 
sular officials are of various grades and ranks, but one and all 
they are our business agents in foreign countries. It is the duty 
of a consular representative to make himself familiar with busi¬ 
ness conditions in the district in which he is stationed, to 
report to his home government upon business opportunities for 
Americans in that district, and otherwise to encourage and 
facilitate commerce between the citizens of the United States 
and the citizens of the country in which he is stationed. The 
members of our consular service are chosen by the President 
and the Senate, from lists of persons who have qualified under 
the merit system. 

498 . Political relations.—In his “Farewell Address,” Presi¬ 
dent Washington advised us to have “as little political connec¬ 
tion as possible” with foreign nations. Many of the champions 
of the policy of isolation have demanded that this advice be 
rigorously followed. 

But however troublesome and dangerous political relations 
with other countries may be, we cannot possibly avoid having 
a certain amount of political intercourse with the other nations 
of the world. Our very existence in the modern world requires 
such relations. As we shall have occasion to see, our political 
relations with other nations are so numerous, so complex, and 
so important that we have been obliged to take part in the cre¬ 
ation of special agencies for their control and administration. 
We shall turn first to a discussion of our diplomatic service, 


414 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


which is one of the agencies for the conduct of our political 
relations with foreign countries. 

499. The diplomatic service. — A consul is our business 
representative abroad; a diplomat is our political representa¬ 
tive in the foreign country to which he is dispatched. We send 
various grades of diplomats to different countries. For ex¬ 
ample, we send ambassadors to the more important countries, 
ministers-resident to most countries, envoys extraordinary or 
ministers-plenipotentiary to several countries, and commis¬ 
sioners for special purposes. The President of the United 
States enjoys the power of appointing diplomatic representa¬ 
tives to foreign countries. These appointments must be con¬ 
firmed by the Senate, but the President acting alone may 
remove any diplomatic officer. Such removal is at the pleasure 
of the President. The term of office enjoyed by diplomatic 
representatives is not fixed by law, but due to the influence of 
the spoils system, it often terminates when a new President 
assumes office. 

500. The duties of a diplomat. —The duties of a diplomatic 
representative are numerous and difficult. Diplomats repre¬ 
senting the United States abroad are expected to keep the 
Secretary of State informed of all matters which might affect 
our government. The diplomat is often called upon to give 
advice concerning treaties made, or to be made, between this 
and other governments. He may actually help to draft and to 
negotiate such treaties. The diplomat abroad may be called 
upon to protect or otherwise to aid American citizens traveling 
or resident in that country. Toward the purely domestic af¬ 
fairs of the country in which he is stationed, however, the diplo¬ 
mat must preserve an attitude of discretion and neutrality. 
Otherwise, he might easily make himself disagreeable to the 
government to which he has been sent, or even involve us in 
war with that government. Common sense, good judgment, 
discretion, tact, and an agreeable personality are essential to 
the successful diplomat. 

501. The nature of international law. — As a matter of pure 
theory, it is possible that the earliest groups of people quarreled 


THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 415 

and fought with one another in an absolutely unrestrained and 
lawless manner. It might have been only very gradually that 
such groups came to observe any rules of conduct toward one 
another. 

In modern times, however, there has been a rapid growth in 
the body of rules which nations tend to observe in their inter¬ 
national relations. Treaties and alliances have often contained 
re-statements of old rules, as well as formulations of new 
standards of conduct between nations. Usage and precedent 
have also given rise to new rules. Court decisions, too, have 
vitally influenced the body of international rules or laws. As a 
result we have to-day a large and important collection of legal 
customs, rules, and principles which the nations of the world 
have come to accept as a basis for their relations with one 
another. This collection of customs, rules, and principles is 
known as international law. 

502 . International law differs from domestic law. — The 

student should be careful to distinguish between international 
law and that type of domestic law which is enacted by Congress 
or his state legislature. There are important differences be¬ 
tween international law and domestic law. 

First, international law is not enacted by a regularly-consti¬ 
tuted legislative body. We are familiar with laws enacted by a 
state legislature, or by our national Congress, but it should not 
be forgotten that there is no superior legislative body which 
has the power to enact laws for the government of nations. 
International law merely embraces those legal principles, rules 
and customs which sovereign nations have agreed upon as 
worthy of respect in their relations with one another. 

Second, international law differs from domestic law in the 
matter of enforcement. We have police, constables, sheriffs, 
and other agencies for the purpose of enforcing the laws enacted 
by our local, state, and national legislative bodies. But no 
similar agencies exist for the enforcement of international law, 
or at least none that wield undisputed and effective authority. 
When a nation has ignored or defied international law, there 
has never been adequate provision for punishing the offender. 


416 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Generally other nations have protested against her action, or 
have gone to war with her as a result of her violation of the law 
of nations. The lack of an adequate enforcement agency has 
always been the grave defect of international law. 

503 . War is the most terrible of all international relations. — 
This brings us to war, which without any doubt is the most 
terrible of all international relations. When war breaks out 
between nations, they suspend friendly relations, and devote all 
of their energies to injuring and destroying each other. All of 
the knowledge and skill of civilized man is turned to the brutal 
and violent ends of destruction and death. The submarine, the 
bombing airplane, poison gas, barbed-wire entanglements, and 
dozens of other frightful devices are manufactured on a large 
scale and at a tremendous cost, and all for the purpose of blow¬ 
ing human bodies to pieces, tearing and choking the life out of 
them, drowning, crushing, or suffocating them. Millions upon 
millions of young men died in the recent World War, and mil¬ 
lions more were crippled and maimed for life. The war cost 
the United States more than forty-four billions of dollars, and 
even more to both Great Britain and France, to say nothing of 
the other combatants. Such is war. 

504 . All modern wars tend to become world wars. — In 
former times the methods of warfare were so primitive, and 
transportation and communication were so poorly developed, 
that wars were generally local affairs, affecting only a small 
area and a few combatants. But nowadays a war tends to 
involve the whole civilized world, so small have modern inven¬ 
tions made the globe. 

The recent World War impressed this terrible tendency upon 
the American people. War broke out in Europe in the summer 
of 1914. At that time we were only an interested spectator. 
Did we not live across a great ocean, in the heart of another 
hemisphere? We saw more and more nations drawn into the 
conflict, and still we kept saying to ourselves that we were 
neutral, and that our foreign policy was one of isolation and 
non-interference in the affairs of Europe. But the world was so 
small, and international relations were so complicated, that in 


THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 417 


spite of our most strenuous efforts we were dragged into the 
conflict as into a whirlpool. We went to war, and we suffered 
and gave blood and flesh and tears to end a struggle with which 
we originally had nothing whatsoever to do. 

All modern wars tend to become world wars, and to drag to 
destruction not only the original combatants, but neutral na¬ 
tions as well, no matter how distant from the original scene of 
conflict, and no matter how earnestly they may desire to be 
left in peace. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is meant by the “policy of isolation”? 

2. What is the significance of the year 1793 in our history? 

3. What advice to the American people was contained in Washing¬ 

ton’s “Farewell Address”? 

4. What is the second cornerstone of our policy of isolation? 

5. What circumstances gave birth to the Monroe Doctrine? 

6. What principles were laid down by the Monroe Doctrine? 

7. What are some of the social relations existing between the citizens 

of different nations? 

8. Comment upon the extent of our commercial relations with other 

nations. 

9. What are the purposes of our consular service? 

10. What is a diplomat? 

11. Name several classes of diplomats. 

12. Name some of the duties of a diplomat. 

13. Define international law. 

14. How has international law come into existence? 

15. In what two ways does international law differ from domestic law? 

16. What is the most terrible of all international relations? 

17. Discuss the phrase “All modern wars tend to become world wars.” 

y Required Readings 

1. Williamson, Readings in American Democracy , pages 60-62. 

2. Monroe’s Message to Congress, December 2, 1823, 

3. Bryce, American Commonwealth, vol. ii, chapter cxvi. 

4. International Encyclopedia, vol. 12, article on “ International law.” 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What was Washington’s object in drawing up his “Farewell Ad¬ 

dress”? (Washington, Farewell Address .') 

2, Why did he warn the American people against foreign influences? 

(Washington, Farewell Address.) 



418 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

3. In what words did Monroe express his opinion of the attempts of 

European powers to extend their system to the Western Hemi¬ 
sphere? (Monroe, Message to Congress.) 

4. What did he say concerning our attitude toward the South Ameri¬ 

can countries that had cast off the Spanish yoke? (Monroe, 
Message to Congress.) 

5. Summarize what Monroe called “our policy in regard to Europe.” 

(Monroe, Message to Congress.) 

6. Comment upon what Bryce calls “American conceit.” (Bryce, 

chapter cxvi.) 

7. What did Bryce say concerning the intellectual relations of Ger¬ 

many and this country? (Bryce, chapter cxvi.) 

8. What does he say about the term “new country” as applied to 

the United States? (Bryce, chapter cxvi.) 

9. Summarize Bryce’s argument on the relations of the United States 

to Europe. (Bryce, chapter cxvi.) 

10. What is a sovereign state? ( International Encyclopedia , vol. 12, 

page 278.) 

11. Name the inherent rights of a sovereign state, ( International 

Encyclopedia, vol. 12, page 278.) 

12. What may be said concerning the jurisdiction of a sovereign state 

over its citizens? ( International Encyclopedia, vol. 12, page 280.) 

13. What two classes of measures short of war can you name? ( Inter¬ 

national Encyclopedia , vol. 12, page 280.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. The influence of George Washington upon our foreign policy. 

2. The origin and nature of the Holy Alliance. 

3. The Monroe Doctrine, as applied by President Polk. 

4. The Monroe Doctrine, as applied by Secretary of State James G. 

Blaine. 

5. The Monroe Doctrine, as applied by President Cleveland. 

6. The Monroe Doctrine, as applied by President Roosevelt. 

7. The Monroe Doctrine, as applied by Presidents Taft, Wilson, and 

Harding. 

8. Extent of tourist travel between this and foreign countries. 

9. Immigration and emigration as a type of international relation. 

10. The rights and duties of American citizens living abroad. 

11. International problems growing out of our foreign trade. 

12. The consular service of the United States. 

13. Our diplomats in Europe during the World War. 

14. The life and work of Hugo Grotius. 


THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 419 

15. Make a list of the purposes of international law. 

16. Ways in which a war may be begun. 

17. Ways in which a war may be concluded. 

18. The causes of war. 

19. The cost of modern warfare. 

20. The horrors of modern warfare. 

11 

21. International relations in the ancient world. (Walsh, Edmund A., 

The History and Nature of International Relations, pages 31-65.) 

22. Medieval diplomacy. (Walsh, pages 69-89.) 

23. Balance of power. (Walsh, pages 99-110.) 

24. Economic factors in international relations. (Walsh, pages 

I 33 -IS 3 -) 

25. Interpretations of the Monroe Doctrine. (Walsh, pages 235-258.) 

26. The sovereignty of the people of the United States. (Foerster 

and Pierson, American Ideals, pages 257-260.) 

27. The Spanish-American War. (Coolidge, The United States as a 

World Power, chapter vi.) 

28. The Philippine question. (Coolidge, chapter viii.) 

29. The United States and France. (Coolidge, chapter x.) 

30. The United States and Germany. (Coolidge, chapter xi.) 

31. The United States and Russia. (Coolidge, chapter xii.) 

32. The United States and England. (Coolidge, chapter xiii.) 

33. The United States and Canada. (Coolidge, chapter xiv.) 

34. The Isthmian Canal. (Coolidge, chapter xv.) 

35. The United States and Latin America. (Coolidge, chapter xvi.) 

36. The United States in the Pacific. (Coolidge, chapter xvii.) 

37. The United States and China. (Coolidge, chapter xviii.) 

38. The United States and Japan. (Chapter xix.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

39. Discuss the statement that “the United States won the World 

War.” 

40. When did we become a world power? 

41. Which is more important in our national defense, our army or our 

navy? 

42. Is the Monroe Doctrine unfair to Europe? 

43. Should “slackers” be imprisoned? 

44. Pacifism. 

45. Discuss the phrase “making the world safe for democracy.” 

46. Discuss the statement that “war is nothing but organized murder.” 

47. Could we have kept out of the World War? 


CHAPTER XL 


THE IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

505 . The policy of isolation is no longer sound. — As we have 
seen in the preceding chapter, our traditional foreign policy 
has been one of isolation from the other nations of the world. 
We desired the European nations to keep themselves free from 
American politics, and we were only too willing to refrain from 
meddling in European politics. 

But this policy of isolation is no longer sound. The progress 
of civilization and the natural course of world events have 
woven a large number of vital relationships between the United 
States and the other nations of the world. Socially, commer¬ 
cially, and politically we have a wide variety of associations 
with England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and dozens of 
other foreign countries. Modern methods of transportation 
and communication have drawn the nations of the world more 
and more closely together, until they can hardly keep from 
jostling one another. To-day the city of New York is in closer 
contact with Vienna and Cape Town than it was with Boston 
and Philadelphia in colonial times. The oceans of the world 
have been conquered by the airplane. Wireless messages flash 
around the globe with news from the most remote regions of 
the earth. Photographs may be sent across the Atlantic by 
means of radio in a quarter of an hour. More and more, our 
great daily papers contain world news, not a week or a month 
old, but the record of events only a few hours old. 

Whatever may have been our foreign policy in the past, 
therefore, and whatever may be our present inclinations, it is 
no longer possible to pretend that we are isolated from the 
rest of the world. We are like a homesteader who went out oh 
the lonely prairie and built himself a house and lived a solitary 
life; then other settlers appeared and roads were built, and the 

420 


THE IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 421 

telephone and the postal service and other elements of com¬ 
munity life broke down his isolation. That homesteader can no 
longer pretend that he lives by himself; neither are we, as a 
nation, able to maintain that we live apart from the world. 

We can no longer treat lightly our relations with other 
countries. Those relations are of the most vital importance, 
and they must be carefully tended. The betterment or im¬ 
provement of our relations with other nations constitutes one 
of the great problems of American democracy. And the kernel 
of this problem may be stated in the following language: How 
can we help the other nations of the world to prevent or elimi¬ 
nate war, that most terrible of all scourges to civilization? 

506 . The Monroe Doctrine not a solution. — Our entrance 
into the World War in April, 1917, was a tremendous shock to 
those Americans who had persisted in believing that the United 
States could not be drawn into European entanglements. Be¬ 
fore the end of the conflict, many of these persons came to admit 
that we could no longer maintain a policy of isolation from 
world affairs. They maintained, however, that the Monroe 
Doctrine could be made to serve as our future foreign policy. 
This is a mistaken idea, for the Monroe Doctrine cannot 
solve the complex international problems that have recently 
come upon us. Let us discuss this point a little further. 

The Monroe Doctrine has played an important role in 
American political discussions ever since its origin in 1823. 
Writers on political science have interpreted it in a variety of 
ways; Presidents have applied it in radically different ways; 
politicians have read into it principles and obligations which no 
one else suspected that it contained. In short, the doctrine has 
been changed and manipulated to such an extent that it would 
puzzle even an expert in international law to say just what it 
does mean. And since it is vague and changeable, instead of 
definite and dependable, it is hardly possible to base a per¬ 
manent foreign policy upon it. Moreover, it was drawn to 
insure our isolation from the rest of the world, and since this 
isolation can no longer exist, we need some other principle 
upon which to base our foreign policy. Finally, the Monroe 


422 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Doctrine takes no account of the policy of other nations. This 
is a serious defect. 

We conclude, therefore, that we cannot grapple effectively 
with the problems of our foreign relations until we have sup¬ 
plemented the Monroe Doctrine by some principle, or set of 
principles, mutually agreed upon by this and the other powers 
of the world. 

507 . Necessity of international organization.—Every stu¬ 
dent must know that when the members of a group have mutual 
aims and purposes, they should cooperate with one another. 
This is true of football teams, of trade unions, of social clubs; 
and it is true of groups of nations as well. 

Now in order to secure cooperation among nations, there 
must be some kind of international organization. There must 
be rules and principles and standards to which the governments 
of the world will agree, and which they will be willing to apply 
in order to settle such disputes and misunderstandings as may 
arise among themselves. 

It may be contended, however, that nations have long had 
an adequate international organization. Nations have consular 
and diplomatic representatives, it is true. They also have 
numerous treaties and alliances for the control of certain matters 
of mutual interest. And finally, there is a growing body of 
international law, the* function of which is to facilitate inter¬ 
national relations. Does not all this constitute an international 
organization? 

It does, but not an organization which is adequate. The 
consular and diplomatic services, the system of treaties and 
alliances, and the whole body of international law, all these 
are of great value, but they are not enough. They are not a 
sufficient guarantee against war, and this alone is enough to 
make necessary some further international organization. Let 
us notice, therefore, some of the more recent attempts of na¬ 
tions to establish an international organization that could 
guarantee the world against war. 

508 . The Hague Conferences. — In 1899 the Czar of Russia 
invited the nations of the world to meet in conference at the 


THE IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 423 

capital city of Holland, known as The Hague. The purpose of 
this international conference was to discuss three important 
types of questions: first, the reduction of armaments; second, 
the humanizing of warfare; and third, the settlement of inter¬ 
national disputes by arbitration. The nations accepted the 
invitation, and before the conference was dismissed, there had 
been established an international body to which nations might 
refer disputes arising among them. This body was to be called 
The Hague Tribunal. 

A few years later, President Roosevelt began to urge a second 
Hague Conference, and largely as the result of his interest in 
the matter another conference was held at The Hague. This 
second conference met in 1907, and occupied a beautiful Palace 
of Peace, donated by Andrew Carnegie, an American philan¬ 
thropist. The Hague Tribunal continued in existence, and be¬ 
fore the outbreak of the World War in 1914, it had succeeded 
in settling a number of grave disputes between nations. The 
good work of the Tribunal is not denied by authorities on 
international politics. 

509. Grave defect of the Hague Tribunal. — The Hague 
Tribunal was a step forward in the elimination of international 
disputes. However, the Tribunal could never have gone very 
far toward the abolition of war, because it had no power to 
compel disputing nations to appeal to it for the settlement of 
their grievances or complaints. If the disputing parties chose 
to appeal to the Tribunal, then a peaceful settlement might 
result. In case they refused to appeal to the Tribunal, the 
court was powerless to compel them to submit to arbitration, 
and the disputing parties might easily drift into war. Since 
the Hague Tribunal was not an effective guarantee against war, 
and since war is the greatest evil that may arise from inter¬ 
national relations, it follows that the Tribunal could not be 
called a satisfactory international organization. It was a step 
forward, but it did not go far enough. 

510. The League of Nations. — When war burst upon the 
world in the summer of 1914, the minds of thoughtful men 
turned to such vital problems as neutrality, the rules of war- 


424 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

fare, and the desirability of peace. In January, 1917, Presi¬ 
dent Wilson delivered an address to Congress, and upon this 
occasion he proposed a league of nations for the purpose of 
enforcing and maintaining peace. A few months later, the 
United States entered the conflict, and again the President 
mentioned the idea of a league of nations. At the end of the 
war, representatives of the warring nations met in Paris and 
drew up a treaty of peace. Due largely to the efforts of Presi¬ 
dent Wilson, this treaty contained provision for an international 
organization to be known as the League of Nations. 

511. Organization of the League of Nations.—The head¬ 
quarters of the League of Nations are at Geneva, Switzerland. 
The League is composed of a number of nations, leagued to¬ 
gether for purposes of common interest. Each nation that is 
a member of the League has the privilege of sending delegates 
to a representative body known as the Assembly. A nation 
has but one vote, although it may have as many as three dele¬ 
gates or representatives. The executive body of the League is 
a Council, in which each of nine nations has one representative. 
Each of these representatives has one vote, and in all important 
matters, the decisions of the Council must be unanimous. The 
Council is supposed always to be made up of the representatives 
of nine powers, including the United States, Great Britain, 
France, Italy, and Japan. There is also a permanent Secretariat 
who keeps the records of the League, publishes treaties and other 
documents, and performs a variety of clerical duties. Finally, 
there are committees appointed annually to study certain 
problems and to report to the Assembly of the League. 

512. Aims of the League of Nations. — The covenant of the 
League of Nations contains a number of provisions which are 
intended to insure a common effort to avoid war. The members 
of the League agree not to begin war upon any state until the 
Council of the League, or a Court of Arbitration, has had time 
to decide whether the quarrel has any real basis, and whether 
it could not be settled peacefully. If a state does actually be¬ 
gin hostilities, in spite of its solemn pledge given to the League, 
the members of the League are to boycott the offending state 


THE IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 425 

in trade and commerce. This means that those members will 
refuse to have any commercial relations with the offending 
state. Meantime, the League decides upon its next step, which 
may consist in an order to its members to send their armed 
forces against the offending state, in order to bring about a 
condition of peace. 

There is also provision for cooperation between nations in 
other matters of mutual concern. So far as possible, existing 
international agencies are to be brought under the League. 
There is provision for the study of the problem of armaments, 
and of the methods by which they may safely be reduced. 
Another aim of the League is to prevent nations from wantonly 
violating the territorial integrity of their neighbors. In the 
attempt to eliminate the evils of secret diplomacy, the covenant 
of the League declares that no treaties between members of the 
League are to be considered valid until such treaties have been 
filed with, and published by, the Secretariat. 

Other aims of the League include international cooperation 
for the improvement of the condition of the laboring classes, 
the suppression of the drug traffic, the regulation of inter¬ 
national trade in arms and munitions, the control of contagious 
diseases, the regulation of international law, the maintenance 
of freedom of commerce, and the encouragement of such or¬ 
ganizations as the Red Cross. 

513. The United States refuses to join the League. — Presi¬ 
dent Wilson was enthusiastically in favor of the League of 
Nations, but he was unable to persuade the Senate of the 
United States to ratify the treaty which contained the original 
covenant of the League. The controversy dragged on for 
months, and finally became the principal issue in the presidential 
campaign of 1920. In that campaign the candidate who was 
an advocate of the League was overwhelmingly defeated, and 
the victory of the Republican candidate was interpreted to 
mean that the American people confirmed the action of the Sen¬ 
ate a few months earlier, and rejected the League of Nations. 

514. American objections to the League of Nations. — The 
arguments brought forward by the opponents of the League of 


426 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Nations were numerous and serious. It was declared that the 
machinery of the League was defective, not only with reference 
to the manner of voting, and the method of withdrawal from 
membership in the League, but in numerous other particulars. 
It was maintained that the League might interfere in such 
domestic concerns as the tariff, coastwise shipping, and immi¬ 
gration. Again, it was claimed, membership in the League 
would force us to depart from the principles laid down by 
Washington and Monroe. It was said that the League would 
have the power to send American soldiers to guard European 
frontiers in case of attack. It was held that we have so little 
in common with the petty squabbles of Europe that such a use 
of our soldiers would be unjustifiable. Finally, a most per¬ 
sistent objection to the League was that it would become a 
super-state which might easily encroach upon the sovereignty 
of the member nations, and even eventually destroy them. 

515 . Present status of the League of Nations. — With the 
exception of the United States, all of the nations that had 
fought against Germany decided to join the League. Many 
neutral states also joined. The League has been at work for a 
number of years, but still its merits are hotly debated. It is 
clear that it has settled some disputes between nations, and 
that it has indirectly done much to advance international good 
will. On the other hand, it has not abolished war, for since the 
League began its work, there have been a number of cases of 
hostilities in various parts of Europe and Asia. In the United 
States, the discussion over the League of Nations has dimin¬ 
ished, but thinking people are still concerned with some sort 
of international organization designed to prevent war, and at 
the same time shorn of what are termed the drawbacks to the 
League of Nations. 

516 . The Outlook. — At present there is no guarantee against 
another world war as terrible as that through which we so 
recently passed. This does not mean that the cause of peace 
is just where it was in the summer of 1914, nor does it mean 
that we have grown indifferent to the horrors of war. On the 
contrary, the cause of peace has been greatly advanced by the 


THE IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 427 

conferences following the war, by the work of the League of 
Nations, and by the work of a large number of private organiza¬ 
tions bent upon solving the problem of how to abolish war. 
We are not yet safe from the danger of war, but we are further 
along the road to permanent peace than we ever were before. 

Now just as the lowest of animals exhibit an instinct to live, 
so the most highly civilized of nations are jealous of anything 
that seems to infringe upon their sovereignty. War is ad¬ 
mittedly a terrible curse, and peace is admittedly a very desir¬ 
able condition. The trouble is that the instincts of nationalism 
so often prevent nations from taking the steps necessary to 
maintain peace. Nations must build character, just as individ¬ 
uals must, and character-building is a long and laborious 
process. The struggle for permanent peace is the struggle of 
intelligence against brute instinct, the struggle of generosity 
against selfishness, the struggle of sympathetic understanding 
against suspicion and vanity and jealousy. In proportion as 
the nations of the earth win this many-sided struggle against 
their anti-social traits, we shall move toward permanent peace. 
The road may be a long one, but is it not a road, and are we 
not moving forward upon it? 

Questions on the Text 

1. Why is the policy of isolation no longer sound? 

2. Why is the Monroe Doctrine not a solution of our international 

problems? 

3. What is the necessity of international organization? 

4. How would you answer the objection that we already have such 

an organization? 

5. When and why was the first Hague Conference called? 

6. What is the Hague Tribunal? 

7. What was its defect? 

8. Explain President Wilson’s part in the formation of the League 

of Nations. 

9. Describe the organization of the League of Nations. 

10. What, in your opinion, is the chief aim of the League? 

11. Outline the other aims of the League. 

12. Why did the United States refuse to accept the League? 

13. What is the present status of the League of Nations? 

14. What is the outlook for permanent peace? 


428 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Required Readings 

1. Coolidge, The United States as a World Power, chapter vii. 

2. Wilson, Woodrow, War Message of April 2, 1917. 

3. The Lodge-Lowell Debate on the League of Nations, March 19, 1919. 

4. Foerster and Pierson, American Ideals, pages 323-326. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Define the terms “Imperialist” and “Anti-Imperialist.” (Cool¬ 

idge, page 134.) 

2. What is the argument in favor of colonial empire? (Coolidge, 

pages 135-138.) 

3. What is the argument against colonial empire? (Coolidge, pages 

I 35 -I 3 8 -) 

4. What is the relation between our entrance into the field of colonial 

empire and our position as a world power? (Coolidge, pages 
139-140.) 

5. What was the effect of the submarine policy of Germany during 

the World War? (Wilson, War Message.) 

6. Why did Wilson call Germany’s submarine policy “a war against 

all nations”? (Wilson, War Message.) 

7. What was involved in our declaration of war against Germany? 

(Wilson, War Message.) 

8. What did Wilson declare our ends to be, at the time that we 

entered the war? (Wilson, War Message.) 

9. What did Senator Lodge have to say about former leagues in 

history? (Lodge-Lowell Debate.) 

10. Explain the term “essentials of an effective league to prevent war.” 

(Lodge-Lowell Debate.) 

11. What were the obligations to be assumed by the members of the 

League of Nations? (Lodge-Lowell Debate.) 

12. What, in Balfour’s opinion, was the securest guarantee for the 

“future peace and freedom of the world”? (Foerster and 
Pierson, American Ideals, page 325.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1. The improvements in transportation during the past century. 

2. The wonders of radio. 

3. Our army during the World War. 

4. Our navy during the World War. 

5. The airplane in the World War. 

6. The cost of armament. 

7. Methods of warfare in the next war. 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 429 

8. Nature and scope of Pan-Americanism. 

9. Changes in the Monroe Doctrine previous to 1900. 

10. Changes in the Monroe Doctrine since 1900. 

11. The work of the Hague Conference of 1899. 

12. The work of the Hague Conference of 1907 

13. The controversy between President Wilson and the United States 

Senate over the League of Nations. 

14. Mandates under the League of Nations. 

15. Article X of the Covenant of the League of Nations. 

16. Present work of the League of Nations. 

17. The place of the United States in the world. (Herbert Adams 

Gibbons, An Introduction to World Politics, chapter xlvi.) 

18. The beginnings of world politics. (Gibbons, Introduction to World 

Politics, chapter i.) 

19. The Monroe Doctrine and the Program of the League to Enforce 

Peace. (Foerster and Pierson, American Ideals, pages 224-232.) 

20. The conditions of peace, as outlined by President Wilson in 

January, 1917. (Foerster and Pierson, American Ideals, pages 
233-241.) 

21. The economic boycott. (J. A. Hobson, Toward International Gov¬ 

ernment, chapter vii.) 

22. Types of American statesmen. (Bryce, American Commonwealth, 

vol. ii, chapter lxxiv.) 

23. Americanism and the foreign born. (Foerster and Pierson, Ameri¬ 

can I deals-,- pages 178-182.) 

24. Americanism as an ideal. (Mathews, The Validity of American 

Ideals, pages 176-207.) 

25. Pan-Americanism. (Foerster and Pierson, American Ideals, pages 

200-206.) 

26. The Washington Conference and the limitation of armaments. 

(1921-1922). (Gibbons, Introduction to World Politics, chapter 
xlix.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

27. Nationalism versus internationalism. 

28. Arguments in favor of the League of Nations. 

29. Arguments opposed to the League of Nations. 

30. Were our objections to the League justified? 

31. To what extent did politics enter into our rejection of the League 

of Nations? 

32. Shall we disarm? 

33. The duties of strong nations toward weak nations. 

34. Discuss the phrase “brotherhood of man. 

35. An ideal plan for permanent peace throughout the world. 


PART V — THE MECHANISM OF GOVERNMENT 


A. The Federal Government 
CHAPTER XLI 

THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 

A. Background of the Federal Constitution 1 

517. Colonial governments. — It is possible to classify the 
American colonies as charter, royal, and proprietary, and to 
point out important differences between these three types. 

But these differences fade in importance before the broad 
and fundamental similarities existing among the colonies. Just 
as there was among the colonies a substantial unity of race, 
language, and religion, so there was a basic similarity in po¬ 
litical institutions. All of the colonies were under relatively 
the same degree of control by England, and consequently all 
of them had much the same degree of freedom in managing 
their own affairs. In each colony a governor acted as chief 
executive. In each colony, likewise, there was a legislature. 
In most of the colonies this legislature consisted of two houses, 
the lower of which was elected by the people. Colonial juris¬ 
prudence everywhere grounded upon the common law of Eng¬ 
land. In each colony there was a system of courts, largely 
following English judicial procedure. In local government 
there was a good deal of variation among the colonies, but 
everywhere the English model was followed, and everywhere 
the principle of local autonomy was asserted and championed. 

518. Early attempts at union. — These fundamental simi¬ 
larities, together with the rise of common problems and the 

1 For a fuller discussion of the background of the Federal Consti¬ 
tution, see Chapters II and III. 

430 


THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 431 

pressure of outside enemies, encouraged federation among the 
colonies. A notable attempt at union was made in 1643, when 
Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven 
united in a league of friendship, primarily for mutual defense 
against the Indians. This league rendered effective service 
during the forty years of its life. In 1754 delegates from seven 
colonies met at Albany and adopted a plan of union proposed 
by Benjamin Franklin. The project was never carried through, 
but it is significant as indicating the trend toward union. 
Still later (1765) the Stamp Act Congress showed that the 
delegates of at least nine colonies could join in a protest against 
England’s taxation policy. The two Continental Congresses 
may also be considered as steps toward union. The first of 
these (1774) concerned itself chiefly with a declaration of rights 
and grievances, but the second (1775-1781) went so far as to 
assume and exercise revolutionary powers. 

519. The Articles of Confederation. — Impelled by the 
necessity of a united front against England, the Second Con¬ 
tinental Congress sought to give force to the Declaration of 
Independence by drawing up a comprehensive plan of union. 
This plan, embodied in the Articles of Confederation, was put 
into operation on March 1, 1781. The new government was 
a confederation or league of states, rather than a federal gov¬ 
ernment such as we have to-day. The states gave up such 
important powers as the right to declare war, and the right 
to borrow and coin money, but the Articles specifically declared 
that “each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and in¬ 
dependence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right which 
is not by this federation delegated to the United States in Con¬ 
gress assembled.” 

The Confederation government was seriously defective. 
There was no national executive and no judiciary. All authority 
was concentrated in a one-chambered congress, the delegates 
to which were entirely under the control of the state legislatures 
which chose them. The central government had no real author¬ 
ity or power. Its congress could reach the individual only 
through the action of the state governments, and these it could 


43 2 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

not coerce. The Confederation government managed to carry 
the states through the last two years of the war, and then 
declined rapidly in power and influence. The Congress could 
not force the states to cooperate with one another in matters 
of national interest. The inability of the central government, 
either to pay the interest on the national debt or to force the 
states to observe treaties which we made with foreign powers, 
cost us the respect of Europe. “We were bullied by England,” 
writes John Fiske of this period, “insulted by France, and 
looked askance at in Holland.” 

The defects of the Articles could not be remedied, for amend¬ 
ment was by unanimous consent only, and on every occasion 
that an amendment was proposed, one or more states refused 
their assent. By 1786 it was the conviction of most American 
statesmen that if the country were to be saved from anarchy 
and ruin the central government would have to be reorganized. 

520 . The Constitutional Convention of 1787 . — In May, 
1787, delegates from every state except Rhode Island came 
together in Philadelphia to consider “means necessary to 
render the Constitution of the Federal government adequate 
to the exigencies of the Union.” 

Early in the session Edmund Randolph introduced what 
has been called the Virginia plan. This called for an abandon¬ 
ment of the Articles of Confederation and demanded the estab¬ 
lishment of a strong national government. The Virginia plan 
favored the larger and more populous states by providing a 
national Congress of two houses, in both of which representa¬ 
tion was to be on the basis of population. 

Of the several other plans put before the Convention the 
most notable was that proposed by William Paterson of New 
Jersey. The adherents of this plan wished to retain the Articles 
of Confederation. The Articles were to be revised so as to 
give greater powers to the central government, but in most 
practical concerns the states were to continue sovereign. The 
New Jersey plan opposed the idea of a two-chambered leg¬ 
islature in which the states were to be represented on the basis 
of population. If representation in both houses of Congress 


THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 433 

were on the basis of population, it was declared, the" larger 
and more populous states would be able to dominate the Na¬ 
tional government and the rights of the smaller states would 
be inadequately safeguarded. 

After a long debate a compromise plan was adopted. It 
was agreed that there should be established a strong national 
government, but one sufficiently checked by constitutional 
provisions to safeguard the rights of the states. The national 
legislature was to consist of two houses. In the upper house 
the states were to be represented equally, while in the lower 
chamber representation was to be on the basis of population. 

521. The new government. — The Convention completed 
the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and the document 
was immediately placed before the states. By the summer of 
1788 the necessary number of states had ratified the Consti¬ 
tution, and on April 30, 1789, the new government was put to 
work under George Washington as first President. 

The English statesman Gladstone has implied that our Con¬ 
stitution was an original creation, “struck off at a given time 
by the brain and purpose of man.” But as a matter of fact 
the Constitution was not so much the result of political orig¬ 
inality as it was a careful selection from British and colonial 
experience. The trial of the Confederation government had 
proved especially valuable, and in drawing up the Federal 
Constitution, the members of the Constitutional Convention 
were careful to avoid the defects of the Articles of Confedera¬ 
tion. The most fundamental difference between the Confed¬ 
eration government and the new Federal government was 
that the Federal Constitution provided for an adequate exec¬ 
utive and judiciary to enforce the Federal laws directly upon 
the individual. The Confederation government, it will be 
remembered, had been obliged to rely upon the states for the 
■enforcement of all laws. 

B. Framework of the Federal Government 

522. The theory of limited government. — The new Con¬ 
stitution created a system of Federal government which retains 


434 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


the advantages of local self-government for the states, but 
at the same time secures the strength which results from union. 
The government of the United States is a compromise between 
centralization and decentralization, the balance between these 
two extremes being maintained by a rather elaborate system 
of checks, balances, and limitations. 

These checks, balances, and limitations we may consider 
under five heads: first, private rights under the Federal Con¬ 
stitution; second, the threefold division of powers in the 
Federal government; third, the division of powers between 
Federal and state governments; fourth, interstate relations; 
and fifth, the supremacy of Federal law. 

523. Private rights under the Federal Constitution. 1 — The 
constitutional limitations upon the Federal government in 
behalf of private rights fall into two groups: those designed 
to protect personal liberty , 2 and those designed to protect 
property rights. 

In many important particulars the Federal Constitution 
protects personal liberty against arbitrary interference on the 
part of the National government. Congress may pass no law 
establishing or prohibiting any religion, or abridging either 
freedom of speech or freedom of the press. The right of the 
people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for 
a redress of grievances shall not be denied. The privilege of 
the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended. Congress 
may not define treason. Neither bills of attainder, nor ex-post 
facto legislation may be passed by Congress. Jury trial, fair 
bail, and freedom from both excessive fines and cruel and un¬ 
usual punishments are guaranteed by the Constitution. Neither 
life, liberty nor property may be taken without due process 
of law. 

The Federal Constitution likewise protects the property 

1 For the prohibitions upon the states in favor of private rights, 
see Chapter XLV. 

2 Some of the limitations in favor of personal liberty enumerated 
in this section are contained in the first ten amendments to the Con¬ 
stitution, adopted in a body in 1791. 


THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 435 

rights of the individual against Federal aggression. The state 
governments alone may define property. Congress may not 
tax articles which are exported from any state. All direct 
taxes must be apportioned according to population . 1 All 
duties, imposts, and excises must be uniform, that is, they 
must fall upon the same article with the same weight wherever 
found. Under the right of eminent domain, the Federal gov¬ 
ernment may take private property for public use, but in such 
a case the owner must be fairly compensated. 

524. Threefold division of powers in the Federal govern¬ 
ment. — A second distinctive feature of our system of govern¬ 
ment is that Federal authority is distributed among three dis¬ 
tinct branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. 
This is part of the general system of “checks and balances” 
by means of which the framers of the Constitution sought to 
prevent any branch or division of government from securing 
undue control of the governmental machinery. 

The basic merit of this threefold division of powers is that 
it safeguards each branch of government against aggression 
from the other two branches. And yet this division of powers 
is by no means so complete that the three branches do not 
work together. For example, both the appointive and the 
treaty-making powers of the President are shared by the Senate. 
The President shares in legislation through his veto power, 
as well as through his right to send messages to Congress. 
The Senate has the right to impeach all civil officers of the 
United States, and may even exert some control over the 
Supreme Court through its right to prescribe the number of 
its judges and the amount of their salaries. The judiciary, 
on the other hand, enjoys the unique power of passing upon 
the constitutionality of the acts of the other two branches 
of government. 

525. Division of powers between Federal and state gov¬ 
ernments. — Another feature of the check and balance system 
is that authority is divided between Federal and state gov¬ 
ernments. The Tenth Amendment declares that “the powers 

1 The Sixteenth Amendment exempts the income tax from this rule. 


436 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states.” 
Thus we speak of the National government as enjoying dele¬ 
gated or enumerated powers, while the state governments 
have residual or unenumerated powers. The Federal govern¬ 
ment must show some specific or implied grant of power for 
everything that it does, but state governments need only show 
that the Federal Constitution does not prohibit them from 
doing whatever they see fit. 

This division of powers between Federal and state gov¬ 
ernments has several distinct advantages. For example, it 
allows Federal and state governments to act as a check upon 
one another. Furthermore, the device admirably divides 
governmental labor: the Federal government is given control 
of matters essentially national, while the states are left in 
charge of affairs distinctly state or local in character. 

526. Interstate relations. — Further to guarantee the in¬ 
tegrity of the Federal system, the Constitution specifies the 
fundamental nature of interstate relations. The states are 
independent of one another, and are equal in Federal law. 
The laws of a state have no force, and their public officials 
have no authority, beyond the state limits. 

The Constitution specifically provides that “full faith and 
credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, 
and judicial proceedings of every other state.” This does not 
mean that the laws of a particular state are binding upon 
persons in other states. It does mean, however, that the courts 
of each state shall*endeavor to give the same force to the laws 
of a neighboring state as those laws would have in the courts 
of the legislating state. 

To prevent discriminations against citizens of other states, 
the Federal Constitution provides that the citizens of each 
state are “entitled to all the privileges and immunities of 
citizens in the several states.” This means that a citizen of 
one state may remove to a neighboring state, and there enjoy 
the same civil rights that the citizens of the latter state 
enjoy. 


THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 437 

In order that fugitive criminals may be tried and punished, 
the Constitution further provides that “a person charged in 
any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee 
from justice, and be found in another state, shall, on the de¬ 
mand of the executive authority of the state from which he 
fled, be delivered up to be removed to the state having juris¬ 
diction of the crime.” 

527. Supremacy of Federal law. — A last distinctive feature 
of our system of government is that Federal law is supreme. 
The Constitution states: “This Constitution and the laws of 
the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, 
and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority 
of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land.” 
The states are supreme in their sphere of action; nevertheless, 
when it is claimed that there is a conflict between state and 
Federal law, the latter prevails. Federal law is the supreme 
law of the land, and, in the last instance, it is the Supreme 
Court of the United States which is the interpreter of that 
law. The decisions of the Supreme Court are binding upon 
the Federal government, upon the several states, and upon 
private individuals. 

C. Development or the Federal Constitution 

528. The formal amending process. — The Constitution of 
the United States may be formally amended in any one of 
four ways. First, an amendment may be proposed by a two- 
thirds vote of each House of Congress, and ratified by the 
legislatures of three fourths of the states. Second, an amend¬ 
ment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of each House of 
Congress and ratified by conventions in three fourths of the 
States. Third, an amendment may be proposed by a national 
convention, called by Congress upon the request of the leg¬ 
islatures of two thirds of the states, and ratified by the leg¬ 
islatures of three fourths of the states. The fourth method 
resembles the third, except that ratification is by conventions 
in three fourths of the states. 


438 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

529. Amendments I-XIX. — There have been nineteen 
Amendments to the Federal Constitution. 1 

Of these the first ten were adopted as a body in 1791, to satisfy 
those who feared that the new Constitution did not adequately 
protect individual or states’ rights against Federal aggression. 
Amendments I-VIII are designed to protect the fundamental 
rights of the individual. The Ninth and Tenth express the 
principle that the Federal government is one of enumerated 
powers, while those powers not specifically conferred upon the 
Federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the 
states or to the people. 

The Eleventh Amendment, adopted in 1798, provided that 
the Federal judicial power should not be construed to extend 
to any suit against a state by citizens of another state, or by 
citizens or subjects of any foreign state. 

The Twelfth Amendment, adopted in 1804, provided that 
presidential electors should cast separate ballots for President 
and Vice President. 

The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolished slavery, the 
Fourteenth (1868) defined citizenship and sought to prevent 
the states from discriminating against certain classes of citizens, 
while the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) declared that the right 
of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or 
abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude. 

In 1913 the Sixteenth Amendment authorized Congress to . 
tax incomes without apportionment among the several states, 
and without regard to any census or enumeration. 

In the same year the Seventeenth Amendment provided for 
the direct election of United States Senators. 

In 1919 an Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the man¬ 
ufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, 
the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from, 
the United States. 

A Nineteenth Amendment was adopted in 1920. This 
declared that the right to vote shall not be denied to any citizen 
of the United States on account of sex. 

1 For the full text of these Amendments see the Appendix. 


THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 


439 


530 . Constitutional changes through judicial interpretation. 

‘—The Federal Constitution has also been modified and de¬ 
veloped by judicial interpretation. The United States Supreme 
Court has maintained that the Federal government possesses 
not only those powers expressly granted by the Constitution, 
but also those powers which are included with, or implied from, 
powers expressly granted. This liberal construction is author¬ 
ized by the Constitution itself, for the last clause in Section VIII 
of Article One of that document declares that Congress shall 
have power to “make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution” its enumerated powers. 
Under this doctrine of implied powers, the influence of the 
National government has been markedly extended, chiefly 
with regard to the war power, the power to regulate interstate 
commerce, and the power to levy taxes and borrow money. 

531 . Constitutional changes through usage.—The Federal 
Constitution has also been modified by the force of custom and 
political practices. Examples of the power of usage to modify 
the Constitution are numerous, but a few will suffice to illus¬ 
trate the principle. Custom has limited the President of the 
United States to two terms. In conformity with a long-estab¬ 
lished custom, Presidential electors do not exercise independent 
judgment, but merely register the vote of their respective 
constituents. Though the Constitution provides that the 
appointive power of the President shall be exercised with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, custom virtually prohibits 
the Senate from challenging the President’s Cabinet appoint¬ 
ments. On the other hand, many executive appointments of 
minor importance are determined solely by members of Congress. 
Usage decrees that the President alone may remove officers 
which he has appointed with the advice and consent of the 
Senate. Lastly, the legislative committee system, as well as 
the entire machinery of the political party, is the outcome 
of custom. Concerning these important instruments of practical 
politics, the Constitution is silent. 


440 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Questions on the Text 

X. Point out some similarities among the American colonial gov¬ 
ernments. 

2. Describe some of the earlier attempts at union. 

3. What was the nature of the Confederation government? 

4. For what specific purpose was the Constitutional Convention 

convened? 

5. What was the Virginia plan? The New Jersey plan? 

6. What was the fundamental difference between the Confederation 

government and the new Federal government? 

7. What is the theory of limited government? 

8. What two classes of private rights are safeguarded by the Federal 

Constitution? 

9. What is the nature and purpose of the threefold division of powers? 

10. To what extent does the Constitution divide powers between 

Federal and state governments? 

11. Outline the nature of interstate relations, as provided for in the 

Federal Constitution. 

12. What is meant by saying that Federal law is supreme? 

13. By what four methods may the Federal Constitution be amended? 

14. Enumerate and briefly characterize the nineteen amendments to 

the Federal Constitution. 

15. To what extent has the Federal Constitution been modified by 

judicial interpretation? 

16. How may the Constitution be modified by usage? Give some 

examples. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics , chapter iii. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xviii. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter v. 

4. Review chapters ii, iii and iv of the text. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What were the chief powers of the New England Confederation? 

(Guitteau, page 208.) 

2. What was the nature of the Stamp Act Congress? (Guitteau, 

pages 208-209.) 

3. What was the most fatal weakness of the Confederation govern¬ 

ment? (Guitteau, page 212.) 

4. Outline the movement for constitutional revision. (Beard, 

pages 42-44-) 

5. Discuss the membership of the Constitutional Convention. (Beard, 

pages 44-45-) 


THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT 


441 


6. Outline the defects of the Articles of Confederation which were 

avoided in framing the Federal Constitution. (Beard, pages 
53 - 56 .) 

7. What were some of the objections to the ratification of the Federal 

Constitution? (Beard, pages 56-58.) 

8. Compare the English and American Constitutions with respect to 

flexibility. (Munro, pages 57-58.) 

9. What effect has constitutional development had upon the division 

of powers? (Munro, pages 69-70.) 

10. Has the development of the Federal Constitution made govern¬ 
ment more or less democratic? (Munro, page 70.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. The protection of your personal liberty under the Federal Con¬ 

stitution. 

2. The protection of your property rights under the Federal Con¬ 

stitution. 

3. Compare the first eight amendments to the Federal Constitution 

with the bill of rights in your state constitution. 

4. Compare the Federal Constitution with the constitution of your 

state with respect to length, number of subjects treated, and 
complexity of language. 

5. The process of extradition between your state and neighboring 

commonwealths. 

II 

6 . Evolution of the state. (Gettell, Problems in Political Evolution, 

chapter i.) 

7. Nature of Federal government. (Gettell, Readings in Political 

Science , pages 268-270.) 

8. Advantages and disadvantages of Federal government. (Gettell, 

Readings in Political Science , pages 276-280.) 

9. Colonial origins of the Federal Constitution. (Beard, American 

Government and Politics, chapter i; Munro, The Government 
of the United States, chapter i; Reed, Form and Functions of 
American Government, chapter i.) 

10. Preliminaries of national government. (Beard, American Govern¬ 

ment and Politics, chapter ii; Munro, The Government of the 
United States, chapter ii.) 

11. The meaning of “We, the People of the United States,” in the 

Preamble to the Constitution. (Taft, Popular Government . 
chapter i.) 


442 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

12. Sovereignty. (Gettell, Introduction to Political Science , chap¬ 

ter viii; Leacock, Elements of Political Science , chapter iv.) 

13. Relation of state and Federal governments. (Guitteau, Govern¬ 

ment and Politics in the United States, chapter xxi.) 

14. The supremacy of Federal law. (Munro, The Government of the 

United States, chapter iv.) 

15. The check and balance system. (Gettell, Readings in Political 

Science , pages 332-336; Forman, The American Republic, 
chapter iv.) 

16. The separation of powers. (Beard, American Government and 

Politics, pages 152-155; Gettell, Introduction to Political Science, 
chapter xvii; Leacock, Elements of Political Science, part ii, 
chapter i.) 

17. Interstate relations. (Leacock, Elements of Political Science, 

chapter vi.) 

18. Personal liberty and government. (Cleveland, Organized De¬ 

mocracy, chapter vii; Gettell, Introduction to Political Science, 
chapter ix.) 

19. The doctrine of implied powers. (Guitteau, Government and 

Politics in the United States, chapter xx.) 

20. Evolution of the Federal Constitution. (Kimball, The National 

Government of the United States, chapter ii.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

21. Is the Federal Constitution too difficult of amendment? Is it too 

easily amended? 

22. Does the Constitution adequately protect state governments 

against Federal aggression? 

23. Has judicial interpretation of the Constitution proved helpful 

or harmful? 

24. Has constitutional modification through usage proved helpful 

or harmful? 


CHAPTER XLII 


THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

A. Choosing the President 

532 . Original method of choosing the President. — The 

Federal Constitution sought to protect the office of chief mag¬ 
istrate against popular passion by providing for the indirect 
election of the President. According to the Constitution, each 
state was to appoint, “in such manner as the legislature thereof 
may direct,” a number of electors equal to the state’s combined 
quota of senators and representatives in Congress. These 
electors were to meet, each group in its own state, and were 
to vote by ballot for two persons. These ballots were then to 
be transmitted sealed to Congress, where the President of the 
Senate was to open and count them in the presence of both 
houses. The person receiving the highest number of votes 
was to be declared President, while the individual obtaining 
the next highest number was to fill the office of Vice President. 

533 . Changes in the original method of choosing the Pres¬ 
ident. — Three important changes have been brought about in 
the original method of choosing the President. 

At the beginning of our national history, the state legis¬ 
latures themselves chose the Presidential electors, but with 
the spread of democracy the legislatures gradually transferred 
the choice of these electors to the people. To-day Presidential 
electors are in every state chosen by popular vote, on a general 
state-wide ticket. 

After the election of 1800 it became apparent that in order 
to prevent the candidate for Vice President from defeating 
the candidate for President, there would have to be a separate 
ballot for each of these officers. In 1804 there was accordingly 
passed the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, providing 
that Presidential electors should thenceforth cast separate 
ballots for President and Vice President. 


443 


444 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Party politics have effected a third change in the original 
method of choosing the President. The Constitution evidently 
intended that the Presidential electors should be men of high 
repute, and that they should select the nation’s chief executive 
as the result of mature deliberation and independent judgment. 
But as early as the third Presidential election (1796) it became 
clearly understood that the electors would merely register the 
opinions of their constituents. Technically the electors still 
choose the President; as a matter of fact they exercise no 
discretion, but merely express decisions previously reached by 
their respective constituents. 

534 . Present method of choosing the President. — To-day 
the President of the United States is elected as.follows: 

Each political party nominates a candidate for the presidency 
at a national convention held in June or July of the presidential 
year. At about the same time the various parties in each state 
nominate the quota of presidential electors to which the state is 
entitled. The people vote on these electors on the Tuesday 
following the first Monday in November of each leap year. 
In each state the electors receiving a plurality assemble at 
the state capitol on the second Monday in January following 
their election, and vote directly for President and Vice Pres¬ 
ident. These votes are then certified and sent to the President 
of the Senate. On the second Wednesday in February, this 
officer opens them, and in the presence of the two houses of 
Congress, counts them, and declares elected the candidate who 
has received the majority of the electoral votes. If no candi¬ 
date has a majority, the House of Representatives elects one of 
the three leading candidates, the Representatives from each 
state casting one vote. In 1800 and again in 1824, the pres¬ 
idential election was thus decided by the House. 

535 . Qualifications. — All persons who are entitled to vote 
for the most numerous branch of the state legislature are 
entitled, likewise, to vote in presidential elections. 1 

No presidential elector may hold any office of trust or profit 

1 For limitations upon the suffrage in the various states, see ChaD- 
ter XXXIII, Section 415. 


THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 445 

under the United States. By custom electors are also 
residents of the district from which they are chosen. 

The President of the United States must be a natural-born 
citizen of the United States and must be at least thirty-five 
years of age. He must also have been a resident of the United 
States for fourteen years. 

536 . Compensation. — The President’s salary is determined 
by Congress, but the amount may be neither increased nor 
decreased for the existing presidential term. Between 1789 
and 1873 the presidential salary was $25,000, and in 1873 it 
was increased to $50,000 a year. Since 1909 the President has 
received an annual salary of $75,000, plus an allowance for 
travelling expenses and the upkeep of the White House or 
Executive Mansion. 

537 . Term and succession. — The President-elect is inaug¬ 
urated on the 4th of March following his election, and serves 
until the 4th of March four years later. By custom, though 
not by law, he is limited to two terms. 

The Constitution provides that in case the President is re¬ 
moved by impeachment, death, resignation, or inability, his 
duties shall devolve upon the Vice President. In 1886 the 
Presidential Succession Act provided that in case of the inabil¬ 
ity of both President and Vice President the Cabinet officers 
shall succeed in the following order: Secretary of State, Sec¬ 
retary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Attorney-General, 
Postmaster-General, Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of 
the Interior. No Cabinet officer has ever succeeded to the 
Presidency, but Presidents Tyler, Fillmore, Johnson, Arthur, 
and Roosevelt were formerly Vice Presidents who ascended 
to the Presidency because of the death of the chief executive. 

538 . The Vice President. — The Vice President of the 
United States is elected in the same manner and by the same 
electors as the President, with this exception: The failure of 
any Vice-Presidential candidate to receive a majority of the 
electoral votes permits the Vice President to be chosen by the 
Senate from the two candidates receiving the highest number 
of electoral votes. The qualifications for the Vice President 


446 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


are the same as for the President. The Vice President’s salary 
is $12,000 a year. 

Aside from the fact that he may succeed the President there 
is little to be said about the Vice President. He presides over 
the Senate, but he is not a member of that body. He can 
neither appoint committees, nor even vote, except in case of 
a tie. Vice Presidents have generally exerted little influence 
upon national affairs. During President Wilson’s second term, 
neither the President’s extended absence in Europe, nor his 
serious illness at home, operated to increase the influence of 
the Vice President. Under President Harding’s administration, 
however, Vice President Coolidge was accorded considerable 
recognition, including the privilege of sitting in the President’s 
Cabinet meetings. 

B. Duties and Powers of the President 

539 . General status of the President. — The President of 
the United States acts as the head of the executive branch of 
government. Since the executive is independent of the other 
two branches, the President is subject to the control of neither 
legislature nor judiciary. The President cannot be arrested 
for any cause whatsoever. No ordinary court has jurisdiction 
over the Chief Magistrate, though misconduct may result in 
his being impeached by the Senate of the United States. 

The President enjoys extensive powers, some of which are 
enumerated in the Constitution, 1 and others of which he has 
acquired by the force of custom. These powers are divisible 
into four groups, which may be discussed in the following 
order: War powers, powers with reference to foreign affairs, 
administrative powers, and legislative powers. 

540 . War powers of the President. — Section II of Article II 
of the Constitution provides that the President shall be “com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, 
and of the militia of the several states when called into actual 
service of the United States.” In pursuance of this power the 
President controls and directs the nation’s military and naval 

1 Article II. 


THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 447 

forces, and appoints all army and naval officers. 1 The execution 
of the military law under which the army and navy are governed 
is also directed by the President. The President may call out 
the state militia, when in his judgment such action is necessary 
in order to suppress insurrection, repel invasion, or enforce the 
laws. In case of war with foreign countries, the President 
as commander-in-chief assumes full direction of hostilities. 

So long as he acts within the bounds of international law, 
the President may do anything which he deems necessary to 
weaken the power of the enemy. In the exercise of this right 
President Lincoln blockaded the southern ports during the 
Civil War, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, declared martial 
law in many districts, and freed the slaves by proclamation. 
During the World War (1917-1921), the powers of President 
Wilson were greatly expanded. For the purpose of bringing 
the struggle with Germany to a successful termination, Congress 
conferred upon the President large powers of control over food, 
fuel, shipbuilding, and the export trade. The railway, tele¬ 
graph, and wireless systems were taken over by the government 
under the President’s war powers. 

An important phase of the President’s war powers is the 
constitutional charge to take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed. Usually the administration of law is a peaceful 
process, but when the civil authorities are rendered powerless 
by persons defying Federal law, the President may use his 
military power to restore order. On three notable occasions 
the President has enforced the laws by the use or display of 
military force. In 1794 President Washington called out the 
militia of four states to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. Dur¬ 
ing the Civil War, President Lincoln resorted to military force 
to execute the laws. Again, in 1894, President Cleveland used 
regular troops to prevent railway strikers in Chicago from inter¬ 
fering with the Federal mails. 

541 . Control over foreign affairs. — The Constitution vests 
in the President the power to negotiate treaties and conventions 

1 In time of war, the President may dismiss these officers at will; 
in time of peace, however, they are removed by court-martial. 


448 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


with foreign nations. In practice the President usually acts 
through the Secretary of State. During the process of negotia¬ 
tion it is customary for the President to consult with the Sen¬ 
ate committee on foreign relations, as well as with the leaders 
of the senatorial majority. Such consultation is a wise step, be¬ 
cause no treaty may become law unless ratified by the Senate. 

The President receives diplomatic representatives from foreign 
countries. This is largely a ceremonial duty, but it may involve 
serious consequences. When the independence of a foreign coun¬ 
try is in doubt, or when the representative of any nation is 
personally objectionable to our government, the President may 
refuse to receive the foreign representative. In case relations 
between this and a foreign country become strained, or in 
case the representative of a foreign- power is guilty of mis¬ 
conduct, the President may request the withdrawal of, or may 
even dismiss, the foreign representative. This severance of 
diplomatic relations may lead to war. 

The President has the further power to appoint diplomatic 
representatives to foreign countries. We send ambassadors 
to the more important countries, ministers-resident to most 
countries, envoys extraordinary or ministers-plenipotentiary to 
several countries, and commissioners for special purposes. 
In the absence of the permanent diplomatic representative 
some minor officer takes temporary charge, and is known as 
the charge d'affaires ad interim. All of the President’s diplo¬ 
matic appointments must be confirmed by the Senate, but the 
President acting alone may remove any diplomatic officer. 
Such removal is at the pleasure of the President. The term of 
office enjoyed by diplomatic representatives is not fixed by law, 
but due to the influence of the spoils system, it often terminates 
when a new President assumes office. 

Besides diplomatic officers, who are charged with political 
duties, our foreign service comprises various grades of consuls, 
or commercial representatives. The President and the Senate 
likewise choose consular officers, but from fists of persons who 
have qualified under the merit system. Promotion and removal 
are determined by Civil Service rules. 


THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 449 

542 . Administrative powers of the President. — The chief 
administrative function of the President is to carry into effect 
the laws of the United States. In the discharge of this duty 
the President is aided by a large number of subordinate officials, 
who, directly or indirectly, are responsible to him as head of 
the administration. Altogether there are more than half a 
million officials in the executive civil service of the United 
States. 

Over the appointment of these numerous officers the Pres¬ 
ident has a varying measure of control. 

He alone appoints a few executive officials, such as his private 
secretary and the members of his Cabinet. The latter are 
nominally chosen by the President and the Senate, but in 
practice the Senate universally approves Cabinet appointments 
sent in by the President. Officers in this first group may be 
removed only by the President. 

The President and the Senate together select about 12,000 
of the more important executive officers. These include dip¬ 
lomatic agents, Federal judges, most military and naval officers, 
collectors of customs and internal revenues, and many others. 
In the case of minor positions to be filled within a congressional 
district, the President usually confers with the Representative 
from that district, if that Representative is of the President’s 
party. If such Representative is not of the President’s party, 
the candidate for the position is really selected by the Senators 
from the proper state. 1 The more important positions in this 
group are filled by the Senators from the state in which the 
vacancy exists, the President ratifying such selections as a 
matter of course. Officers in this second group are removable 
only by the President. 

More than 300,000 of the minor executive positions are 
now filled by the Civil Service Commission. Persons entering 
office through the merit system, may be removed only for a 
cause which will promote the efficiency of the service. 

In addition to his administrative duties, the President has 

1 Provided, of course, that these Senators belong to the same political 
party as the President. 


45 ° 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against 
the United States, except in the case of impeachment. A 
pardon fully exempts the individual from the punishment 
imposed upon him by law; a reprieve, on the other hand, is 
simply a temporary suspension of the execution of a sentence. 

543 . Legislative powers of the President. — Though prima¬ 
rily an executive officer, the President enjoys important powers 
over legislation. 

The President may convene either or both houses of Congress 
on extraordinary occasions. For example, he may call an 
extra session of Congress to consider such questions as the 
tariff, currency reform, or a treaty. 

The President has the right to send messages to Congress 
from time to time during his term. The recommendations 
contained in these messages exert some direct influence upon 
legislation, and are important in formulating public opinion 
outside of Congress. 

Indirectly the President exerts a considerable influence upon 
legislation by bringing political pressure to bear upon the Con¬ 
gressional leaders of his party. He also exerts some influence 
upon legislation by the use of the patronage which accompanies 
his appointing power. This influence is important as breaking 
down the barriers between the executive and legislative branches 
of government. 

The President may issue ordinances which have the force 
of law. As commander-in-chief of the army and navy, he may 
issue ordinances for their regulation. In pursuance of the duty 
to enforce the laws, the President may issue ordinances pre¬ 
scribing uniform means for the enforcement of the statutes. 
He may issue ordinances for specific purposes, as, for example, 
Congress in 1912 authorized the President to issue legislative 
ordinances for the government of the Canal Zone. 

Very important is the President’s veto power. The Pres¬ 
ident may veto any bill or joint resolution passed by Congress, 
with the exception of joint resolutions proposing Constitutional 
amendments. But the President must veto the bill as a whole, 
and not particular items. Even though vetoed by the President, 


THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 451 


a bill may still become law by being passed by a two-thirds 
vote in each house of Congress. In spite of these restrictions, 
the President exerts a considerable influence upon legislation 
by the use of the veto, or by the threat that he will employ 
it. Most authorities regard the veto power as a wholesome 
check upon harmful and unwise legislation. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Describe the original method of choosing the President. 

2. Outline the three important changes which have taken place in 

the original method of choosing the President. 

3. Describe the present method of choosing the President. 

4. What are the qualifications for Presidential electors? For Presi¬ 

dent? 

5. What is the compensation of the President? 

6. What is the nature of the Presidential Succession Act? 

7. Discuss the Vice Presidency. 

8. Into what four groups may the powers of the President be divided? 

9. Enumerate the chief war powers of the President. 

10. What is the extent of the President’s treaty-making power? 

11. Outline the President’s duties with respect to appointing and 

receiving foreign representatives. 

12. What is the chief administrative function of the President? 

13. Discuss the President’s power to grant pardons and reprieves. 

14. Explain the ordinance-issuing power of the President. 

15. What is the extent of the President’s veto power? 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter x. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xxv. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter viii. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xix. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Outline the work of the national convention. (Reed, pages 228-229.) 

2. Describe the presidential campaign. (Reed, pages 233-234.) 

3. Why was the presidential election of 1876 disputed? (Guitteau, 

pages 288-289.) 

4. Describe the inaugural ceremony. (Guitteau, page 292.) 

5. What is the origin of the President’s right to remove officers 

appointed by him? (Beard, page 193.) 


452 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

6. How did President Roosevelt once succeed in carrying out the 

terms of an international agreement without the consent of 
the Senate? (Beard, pages 197-198.) 

7. Why was the veto power originally bestowed upon the President? 

(Beard, page 202.) 

8. What is the rule of senatorial courtesy? (Munro, page 107.) 

9. What is the pocket veto? (Munro, page 118.) 

10. What is the President’s relation to the courts? (Munro, pages 

124-125.) 

11. What is the method of impeaching a President? (Reed, pages 

237-238.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. The part played by your state in the last Presidential election. 

2. Extent to which the President of the United States has made use 

of the militia of your state. 

3. Compare the powers of the President of the United States with 

the powers of the Governor of your state. 

4. Cabinet officers, past or present, who were natives of your state. 

5. List some of .the offices within the bounds of your state 

which are filled, directly or indirectly, by the President of the 
United States. 


n 

6. The biography of some one President. (Consult an encyclopedia, 

standard works on American history, and special biographies.) 

7. The history of some one important Presidential election. (Consult 

a standard history of the United States.) 

8. The inauguration of a President. (Reinsch, Readings on American 

Federal Government , pages 1-5.) 

9. The war powers of the President. (Reinsch, Readings on American 

Federal Government, pages 22-32.) 

10. Federal intervention in the Chicago strike of 1894. (Reinsch, 

Readings on American Federal Government , pages 32-46.) 

11. The treaty-making power. (Reinsch, Readings on American 

Federal Government, pages 79-127.) 

12. The presidential power of appointment. (Taft, Our Chief Mag¬ 

istrate and His Powers, chapter iii.) 

13. The pardoning power of the President. (Taft, Our Chief Mag¬ 

istrate and His Powers, chapter v.) 

14. The presidential veto. (Taft, Our Chief Magistrate and His 

Powers, chapter i.) 


THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 453 


15. The President at work. (Reinsch, Readings on American Federal 

Government , pages 5-10.) 

16. The President as party leader. (Jones, Readings on Parties and 

Elections in the United States, pages 205-2n.) 

17. Relations of the executive and legislative branches of the National 

government. (Beard, American Government and Politics, pages 
205-214.) 

18. The impeachment of President Johnson. (Consult any general 

work on American history, or an encyclopedia.) 

19. “Why great men are not chosen Presidents.” (Bryce, The Ameri¬ 

can Commonwealth , vol. i, chapter viii.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

20. Would a single presidential term of six years be preferable to the 

present custom of electing a President for not more than two 
four-year terms? 

21. Should the President be chosen directly by the people, without 

resort to the electoral college? 

22. Does Congress exercise too little control over the choice of the 

President’s Cabinet? 

23. Advantages and disadvantages of the veto power. (See Munro, 

The Government of the United States, page 119.) 

24. Should the President be permitted to veto separate items in a bill? 


CHAPTER XLIII 


THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 

544 . Development of the Federal executive. — The Presi¬ 
dent is the head of the Federal executive, but in the perform¬ 
ance of his numerous administrative duties he is aided by a 
number of subordinate officers. 

No executive departments were directly established by the 
Constitution, but that document evidently assumes their 
existence, for it clearly states that the President “may require 
the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the 
executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties 
of their respective offices.” 1 

President Washington was authorized by Congress to appoint 
three assistants: a Secretary of State, a Secretary of the Treas¬ 
ury, and a Secretary of War. With the development of govern¬ 
mental functions, additional departments have been created. 
Congress established the Post Office Department in 1794, the 
Navy Department in 1798, the Department of the Interior in 
1849, ^e Department of Justice in 1870, the Department of 
Agriculture in 1889, the Department of Commerce in 1903, 
and the Department of Labor in 1913. At present, then, there 
are ten Federal executive departments, all of them under the 
direct control of the President. 

545 . The Cabinet. — The heads of these ten departments 
are appointed by the President, nominally with the consent 
of the Senate. They may be removed only by the President, 
and by him at will. Neither in the Constitution nor in the 
statutes of Congress is there provision for a Cabinet, but as 
the result of custom which has been formulating since Wash¬ 
ington’s second term the heads of the Federal executive depart- 

1 Article II, Section II, of the Constitution. 

454 


THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 


455 

merits have come to constitute, in their collective capacity, 
the President’s Cabinet. Cabinet meetings are generally held 
twice a week, or oftener, as the President desires. 

The American Cabinet should not be confused with the 
Cabinet in Great Britain and other European countries. In 
Europe the Cabinet is generally a parliamentary ministry, 
that is to say, a group of men chosen from the majority party 
in the legislature. These Cabinet members, or ministers, sit 
in the legislature, propose laws, and defend their measures on 
the floor. They are held responsible for the national admin¬ 
istration. This means that when the majority of the legis¬ 
lature fails to support them they are expected to resign, in 
order that the opposition party may form a new Cabinet. 

Quite different is the American Cabinet. This body is ad¬ 
visory only, and the President may disregard the advice of 
any or all of its members. The Cabinet in this country is 
accountable only to the President. The attitude of Congress 
toward Cabinet officers has nothing to do with the tenure of 
office of these executive heads. Cabinet members do not sit 
in Congress; they do not, in the capacity of Cabinet officers, 
introduce or defend legislation; and they are not held respon¬ 
sible for the administration. 

546 . Heads of departments as administrative officers. 

— Collectively the heads of the ten executive departments 
act as the President’s Cabinet; individually they administer 
their respective departments. Though responsible to the 
President and at all times working under his direction, the heads 
of departments are allowed a wide range of independence. 
Department heads may appoint and remove at will a large 
number of minor officers in their respective departments, though 
of late years this power has been considerably restricted by Civil 
Service rules. The exact scope of the work of the various de¬ 
partments is largely defined by law. Within the limits thus 
set, the head of the department is free to make regulations 
affecting the conduct of departmental business. To expedite 
business, the work of each department is divided and sub¬ 
divided among numerous bureaus, boards, and commissions, 


456 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


functioning under the general direction of the head of the 
department. 

547 . The Department of State. — Without doubt the most 
important of the subordinate executive officers is the Secretary 
of State. His most pressing duty is to conduct foreign affairs 
in accordance with the wishes of the President. In pursuance of 
this duty, the Secretary of State issues instructions to dip¬ 
lomatic and consular officers, issues passports to American 
citizens going abroad, and otherwise exercises control of matters 
touching foreign relations. 

Important domestic duties devolve upon the Secretary of 
State. When the President desires to communicate with the 
Governors of the several states, he acts through the Secretary 
of State. The Secretary is the custodian of the Great Seal of 
the United States. It is he who oversees the publication of 
the Federal statutes. The Secretary of State likewise has 
charge of the archives containing the originals of all laws, 
treaties, and foreign correspondence. 

Much of the work of the Department of State is performed 
through bureaus, the titles of which indicate their respective 
functions. Of these bureaus the following are the more im¬ 
portant: the diplomatic bureau, the consular bureau, the 
bureau of accounts, the bureau of indexes and archives, 
the bureau of rolls and library, the bureau of appointments, 
and the bureau of citizenship. Each of these bureaus is headed 
by a chief who is directly responsible to the Secretary of State. 
In addition to these chiefs of bureaus, the Secretary is aided 
by three assistant secretaries of state. 

548 . Department of the Treasury. — Supervision of the 
national finances is the chief business of the Secretary of the 
Treasury. The Secretary annually submits to Congress esti¬ 
mates of probable receipts and expenditures, and supervises 
the collection of customs and internal revenues. He also issues 
warrants for all moneys paid out of the treasury. 

The scope of the department’s work may be indicated by 
an enumeration of its chief officers. These include the Secre¬ 
tary himself, three assistant secretaries, six auditors, the treas- 


THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 


457 


urer, the comptroller of the treasury, the director of the mint, 
the register, the comptroller of the currency, the commissioner 
of internal revenue, the director of the bureau of engraving and 
printing, the chief of the secret-service department, the cap¬ 
tain commandant of the coast guard, the superintendent of 
the life-saving service, the surgeon-general of the public health 
service, the supervising architect, and the farm loan com¬ 
missioner. 

549 . The Department of War. — National defense is the 
chief concern of the Secretary of War. Coast fortifications, 
the supervision of navigation, and river and harbor improve¬ 
ments fall within the scope of the department. Our insular 
possessions are administered by the Secretary of War. It is 
also the duty of this officer to prepare estimates of the expenses 
of his department, to supervise all expenditures for the support 
and transportation of the army, and to take charge of the issu¬ 
ance of orders for the movement of troops. In addition, he 
has charge of the Military Academy at West Point, and 
recommends all appointments and promotions in the army 
service. 

Under the Secretary of War are grouped a number of admin¬ 
istrative bureaus, each headed by an army officer detailed for 
a period of four years. Of these officers the following are the 
more important: the inspector-general, the quartermaster- 
general, the adjutant general, the surgeon-general, the chief 
of engineers, the chief of ordnance, the chief signal officer, the 
chief of the coast artillery, the judge advocate general, the 
provost-marshal general, and the chief of the bureau of insular 
affairs. 

550 . The Department of the Navy. — The Department of 
the Navy is likewise concerned with national defense. While 
less important than the Department of War, the Department 
of the Navy is steadily gaining in prestige. The Department 
is in charge of a Secretary, aided by an assistant secretary. 
It is the duty of the Department of the Navy to superintend 
the construction and armament of war vessels, and in addition 
exercise a supervisory control over the naval service. The 


458 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Naval Academy at Annapolis and the Naval War College at 
Newport are in charge of the Department of the Navy. 

The administrative work of the Department is carried on 
by seven bureaus, most of them in charge of line officers of the 
Navy, working directly under the Secretary. These bureaus are 
as follows: the bureau of navigation, the bureau of ordnance, 
the bureau of yards and docks, the bureau of supplies and ac¬ 
counts, the bureau of steam engineering, the bureau of medi¬ 
cine and surgery, and the bureau of construction and repairs. 

551 . The Department of Justice. — This Department is 
headed by the Attorney-General, who acts as the chief legal 
adviser of the National government. It is his duty to represent 
the government in all cases to which the United States is a 
party. It is he who conducts proceedings against corporations 
or individuals who violate the Federal laws. General super¬ 
vision over all Federal district attorneys and marshals is exer¬ 
cised by the Attorney-General. This officer likewise examines 
the titles of lands which the government intends to purchase. 
The Attorney-General has a supervisory charge of the penal 
and reformatory institutions which are Federal in character. 
Applications for pardons by the President are investigated by 
the Attorney-General. Still another of his duties is to super¬ 
intend the codification of the Federal criminal laws. 

In these various duties the Attorney-General is assisted by 
an under-officer known as the solicitor-general. 

552 . The Post Office Department. — This Department, 
headed by the Postmaster-General, has general charge of the 
postal service. The Postmaster-General awards contracts for 
the transportation of che mails, and directs the management of 
the domestic and foreign mail service. The handling of money 
orders, the parcels post system, and the postal savings banks 
come under the control of the Postmaster-General. Of great 
importance is the power of this officer to bar from the mails 
publications which are fraudulent or otherwise obnoxious. 

Working under the Postmaster-General are four assistant 
postmasters-general, each in general charge of a group of services 
within the department. 


THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 


459 


553. Department of the Interior. — Aided by two assistant 
secretaries, the Secretary of the Interior performs a number 
of important functions. He has charge of all public lands, 
including national parks. The handling of Indian affairs 
constitutes one of his duties. The territories of Alaska and 
Hawaii come under the direct supervision of this department. 

Many miscellaneous functions are performed by the various 
bureaus within the department. Patents, pensions, and the 
geological survey come within the purview of the department. 
The Secretary of the Interior has charge of the distribution 
of government appropriations to various educational insti¬ 
tutions. A general supervision over a number of charitable 
institutions within the District of Columbia is also exercised 
by this officer. 

554. Department of Agriculture. — All matters pertaining 
to agriculture in the widest sense are the concern of the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. Under the direction of the Secretary the 
Department issues a large number of scientific and technical 
publications, including the Agricultural Yearbook, the series 
of Farmers’ Bulletins, the Monthly Weather Review, and the 
Crop Reporter. Quarantine stations for imported cattle, and 
the inspection of domestic meats and imported food products 
are concerns of the various bureaus within the Department. 
Of great importance is the work of the weather bureau in send¬ 
ing out storm, flood, frost, and drought warnings. 

An increasingly important phase of the Department’s work 
is the Forest Service, the work of which has been described in 
Chapter XXX. An important bureau is the bureau of animal 
industry, which combats animal diseases and gives advice 
concerning the best breeds of poultry and cattle. The bureau 
of plant industry ransacks the world for new crops suitable 
for our soils, and gives fruit-growers and farmers advice con¬ 
cerning plant parasites. Insect pests are the concern of the 
entomology division. Additional functions of the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture may be indicated by an enumeration of 
some of the more important of its remaining bureaus and 
divisions. These include the bureau of chemistry, the bureau 


460 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

of soils, the bureau of statistics, the bureau of crop estimates, 
the office of public roads and rural engineering, the Federal 
horticultural board, and the bureau of markets. 

555. The Department of Commerce. — In 1913 what for 
ten years had been known as the Department of Commerce 
and Labor was divided into two separate departments, a Depart¬ 
ment of Commerce and a Department of Labor. 

The chief duty of the Department of Commerce is to foster 
the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States. To 
promote our mining, manufacturing and fishing industries, 
and to develop our transportation facilities are, therefore, 
among the aims of this department. The census, the coast 
survey and lighthouses, and steamboat inspection are concerns 
of the Department of Commerce. The scope of the Depart¬ 
ment, which is increasing rapidly, may be indicated by an 
enumeration of the more important bureaus grouped within 
it. These include the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, 
the bureau of census, the bureau of lighthouses, the bureau of 
coast and geodetic survey, the steamboat inspection service, 
the bureau of navigation, the bureau of standards, and the 
bureau of fisheries. 

556. The Department of Labor. — Though at present the 
functions of the Department of Labor are fewer than those 
of the other Departments, they are being rapidly expanded 
by the extension of government interest in industry. The 
Department is concerned with practically all matters which 
affect labor conditions in the United States. 

The Department of Labor collects and publishes information 
upon all subjects connected with labor and capital, the hours 
and wages of labor, and methods of improving the condition 
of the working classes. It seeks to encourage industrial good 
will, and to adjust labor disputes peaceably. An important 
bureau within the Department is the bureau of immigration, 
which, under the direction of the commissioner-general of 
immigration, is concerned with the administration of our 
immigration laws. The bureau of naturalization keeps a record 
of immigrants, and supervises their naturalization. Of growing 


THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 


461 


importance is the children’s bureau, which investigates matters 
having to do with child labor, infant mortality, orphanage, 
and the work of the juvenile courts. 

557. Miscellaneous boards and commissions. — In addition 
to the executive departments which have been briefly discussed, 
the Federal administration includes many independent boards, 
bureaus, and commissions which perform duties not assigned 
to any of the ten departments. These agencies have been 
established from time to time under the authority of Congres¬ 
sional statutes. The chiefs of the bureaus and the members 
of the boards and commissions are appointed by the President 
and the Senate, most of them for a term ranging between six 
and twelve years. These officials are largely experts, who 
happily are sufficiently exempt from the spoils system to stand 
a fair chance of surviving a change of administration. 

Among the more important of these boards and commissions 
are the following: The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal 
Farm Loan Board, the Federal Board for Vocational Education, 
the Federal Trade Commission, the Interstate Commerce Com¬ 
mission, the United States Tariff Commission, and the Civil 
Service Commission. The nature and functions of most of 
these administrative agencies have been discussed elsewhere 
in the text, and need not be gone into here. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Trace briefly the development of the Federal executive depart¬ 

ments. 

2. What is the nature of the President’s Cabinet? 

3. Contrast the American with the European cabinet. 

4. What function do the heads of departments perform individually? 

5. What are the chief functions of the Secretary of State? 

6. Enumerate the more important officers working under the direction 

of the Secretary of the Treasury. 

7. Describe the work of the Department of War. 

8. What are the chief functions of the Secretary of the Navy? 

9. What are the chief duties of the Attorney-General? 

10. Describe the work of the Post Office Department. 

11. What types of work are the concern of the Department of the 

Interior? 


462 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


12. Discuss briefly the work of the Department of Agriculture. 

13. What is the function of the Department of Commerce? Of the 

Department of Labor? 

14. Name some of the more important boards and commissions which 

are independent of the ten executive departments. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter ii. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xxvii. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter ix. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xxiv. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Outline the duties which are common to the heads of all of the 

executive departments. (Beard, pages 216-218.) 

2. Contrast the National administration with the state administration. 

(Reed, pages 286-287.) 

3. What is the purpose of the Library of Congress? (Reed, pages 

298-299.) 

4. Describe the work of the General Land Office under the Depart¬ 

ment of the Interior. (Guitteau, pages 318-319.) 

5. What is the function of the Commissioner of Patents? (Guitteau, 

page 319.) 

6. What are the duties of the Commissioner of Education, under the 

Secretary of the Interior? (Guitteau, page 320.) 

7. Name some of the more important boards and commissions created 

during the World War. (Guitteau, pages 325-326.) 

8. Compare our Department of the Interior with the Department 

of the Interior in France. (Munro, pages 136-137.) 

9. What is meant by the statement that the National administration 

is decentralized? (Munro, page 142.) 

10. Describe briefly the work of the Civil Service Commission. (Beard, 
pages 222-224.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Membership of the President’s Cabinet at the present time. 

2. The biography of some one member of the President’s Cabinet. 

3. The work of some bureau or department in the National adminis¬ 

tration. (Reports on the work of the various departments may 
be secured by writing to the respective departments at Washing- 


THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 463 

ton, D. C. See also Fairlie, The National Administration of 
the United States of America.) 

4. Compare the National administration with the administrative 

department in your state, with respect to 

(a) Scope of work 

(b) Centralization 

(c) Efficiency 

{d) Control by the people. 

11 

5. Evolution of the executive. (Gettell, Introduction to Political 

Science , chapter xix.) 

6. Functions of the Federal executive. (Kimball, The National 

Government of the United States, chapter x.) 

7. A history of the President’s Cabinet. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

8. Membership of the Cabinet. (Fairlie, The National Adminis¬ 

tration of the United States, chapter iv.) 

9. An Englishman’s view of the American Cabinet. (Bryce, The 

American Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter ix.) 

10. The Department of State. (Fairlie, The National Administration 

of the United States, chapter vi.) 

11. The Department of the Treasury. (Fairlie, The National Ad¬ 

ministration of the United States, chapters vii and viii.) 

12. The Department of War. (Fairlie, The National Administration 

of the United States, chapter ix.) 

13. The Department of the Navy. (Fairlie, The National Administra¬ 

tion of the United States, chapter x.) 

14. The Department of Justice. (Fairlie, The National Administration 

of the United States, chapter xi.) 

15. The Post Office Department. (Fairlie, The National Administra¬ 

tion of the United States, chapter xii.) 

16. The Department of the Interior. (Fairlie, The National Adminis¬ 

tration of the United States, chapters xiii and xiv.) 

17. The Department of Agriculture. (Fairlie, The National Adminis¬ 

tration of the United States, chapter xv.) 

18. The Department of Commerce. (Fairlie, The National Administra¬ 

tion of the United States, chapter xvi.) 

19. The Department of Labor. (Fairlie, The National Administration 

of the United States, chapter xvi.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

20. The American Cabinet compared with the English Cabinet. (See 

Munro, The Government of the United States, pages 143-145.) 


464 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

21. Should the President be obliged to act in accordance with the 

wishes of a majority of his Cabinet? 

22. To what extent should promotion in the civil service be on the 

basis of length of service? To what extent should promotion 
be determined by periodic examinations? 

23. Do you favor the creation of a new executive department, to be 

called the Department of Public Welfare? 


CHAPTER XLIV 


NATURE AND POWERS OF CONGRESS 

558. Congress consists of two houses. — The National 
legislature, or Congress, consists of a Senate or upper chamber, 
and a House of Representatives or lower chamber. 

Several factors are responsible for this division of Congress 
into two houses. Undoubtedly the framers of the Constitution 
were influenced by the fact that the British Parliament and 
nearly all of the colonial legislatures consisted of two houses. 
A second factor is that in the opinion of the Fathers, a two- 
chambered legislature would allow each house to act as a check 
upon the other. Finally, the creation of a two-chambered 
legislature was necessary in order to reconcile the conflicting 
desires of the large and the small states. During the Consti¬ 
tutional Convention two opposing factions were brought to¬ 
gether by the creation of a two-chambered legislature, in the 
upper house of which the states were to be represented equally, 
and in the lower house of which representation was to be on the 
basis of population. 

A. The Senate 

559. Term and qualifications of Senators. — Two Senators 
are chosen from each state, regardless of population. The 
senatorial term is six years. In order to make the Senate a 
permanent body, membership is so arranged that one third 
of the Senators retire every two years. 

The Federal Constitution provides that Senators must be 
at least thirty years of age. In addition, a Senator must have 
been nine years a citizen of the United States, and he must be 
an inhabitant of the state from which he is chosen. The Sen¬ 
ate alone is judge of the qualifications of its members. 

465 


466 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


With respect to the Senate, two disqualifications are imposed 
by the Federal Constitution. No one holding a Federal office 
may stand for election as Senator. Nor may any person become 
a Senator who has taken part in a rebellion against the United 
States after having taken an oath as a government officer to 
support the Constitution. 

560. The election of Senators. — Previous to 1913 Senators 
were chosen by the various state legislatures, according to 
the provisions of the Federal Constitution. 1 This method 
proved unsatisfactory. Demoralizing political battles often 
took place in the state legislatures in the effort to select the 
states’ Senators to Congress. Sometimes, even after a long 
struggle, no candidate was able to secure a majority, and a 
deadlock occurred. Thus, on the one hand, a state might be 
deprived of representation in the Senate for weeks or months, 
while, on the other hand, the attention of the legislature was 
so distracted by the senatorial struggle that purely state inter¬ 
ests suffered. As the result of a long agitation growing out of 
these evils, the Federal Constitution was amended (1913) to 
permit the direct election of Senators. 

Since 1913, then, any person may vote directly for Senator 
who, under the laws of his state, is qualified to vote for members 
of the more numerous branch of the state legislature. When, 
for any reason, a vacancy occurs in the representation of any 
state in the Senate, the Governor of the state issues a writ 
of election to fill such vacancy. Provided the state legislature 
grants the authority, the Governor also may appoint some 
person to serve as Senator until the vacancy is filled by popular 
election. Senators are generally reelected, and at the present 
time the average term of service is not six, but about twelve 
years. 

561. Privileges and immunities of Senators. — By the terms 
of the Constitution, Senators are paid out of the national 
treasury an amount to be determined by statute. At present 
both Senators and members of the House of Representatives 
receive $7500 a year, plus an allowance for travelling expenses, 

1 Article I, Section III. 


NATURE AND POWERS OF CONGRESS 


467 


clerk hire, and stationery. Except in case of treason or breach 
of the peace, Senators and Representatives are immune to 
arrest during attendance at the sessions of their respective 
houses, and in going to and returning from the same. Both 
Senators and Representatives likewise enjoy freedom of speech 
and debate in their respective houses. In either chamber 
only the house itself may call members to account for their 
statements during the legislative session. No member of Con¬ 
gress may be prosecuted in the courts for libel or slander on 
account of statements made in Congress, or for the official 
publication of what he has said during the legislative session. 


B. The House of Representatives 

562. Membership of the House. — Since the Senate is 
composed of two Senators from each state, its membership 
has been relatively stable. For a number of years there have 
been 96 Senators, two for each of the forty-eight states of 
the Union. 

The membership of the House of Representatives, on the 
other hand, is steadily increasing, because based upon pop¬ 
ulation. The number of Representatives to which any state 
is entitled depends upon its population as ascertained every 
ten years by a Federal census. After each census Congress 
determines the number of Representatives of which the House 
shall consist. The population of the United States is then 
divided by this number, and the quotient is taken as the ratio 
of representation. The population of each state is then divided 
by this ratio to discover the number of Representatives to 
which it is entitled. As a single exception to this rule, the 
Constitution provides that each state shall have at least one 
Representative regardless of population. Thus Nevada, Ari¬ 
zona, Wyoming, and Delaware are entitled to one Represent¬ 
ative, whereas according to the above rule they would now 
be denied representation. 

The present membership of the House of Representatives 
is 435- 


468 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

563 . Who may vote for Representatives.—The Federal 

Constitution provides that members of the House of Represent¬ 
atives shall be chosen by persons who, in their respective states, 
are qualified to vote for members of the more numerous branch 
of the state legislature. Most male and female citizens over 
twenty-one years of age may vote for members of this more 
numerous branch, and hence for Representatives to Congress. 
In a number of states, however, educational, property and 
other qualifications are imposed. Certain types of criminals, 
the insane, and the otherwise defective are regularly 
excluded. 1 

564 . Qualifications of Representatives. —The Federal Con¬ 
stitution declares that a Representative must be at least twenty- 
five years of age. He must have been a citizen for at least seven 
years, and at the time of his candidacy must also be an inhabit¬ 
ant of the state from which he is chosen. The House itself 
determines whether or not these qualifications have been met. 
No state may add to the constitutional qualifications, but 
through the force of custom a Representative is almost always 
a resident of the district which he is chosen to represent. 

565 . Election of Representatives.—The Federal Constitu¬ 
tion permits the legislatures of the several states to regulate 
the time, manner and place of elections for its Representatives 
to Congress. 

However, the Constitution reserves to Congress the right to 
alter these regulations at its discretion. This right has been 
exercised several times. Congressional statute has provided 
that Representatives shall be elected on the Tuesday following 
the first Monday in November of even-numbered years, and 
that the election shall be by written or printed ballot. It is 
also in accordance with Congressional statute that Represent¬ 
atives are selected on the district plan, one Representative 
being chosen from each Congressional district in the state. 
Congress has furthermore provided that these districts shall 
be of as nearly equal population as possible, and that they 
shall be composed of “compact and contiguous territory.” 

1 For a fuUer discussion of the suffrage, see Chapter XXXIII. 


NATURE AND POWERS OF CONGRESS 469 

566 . The Congressional district. — Subject to the above 
limitations the legislature of each state may determine the 
boundaries of its Congressional districts. The state legislature 
finds it necessary to redistrict the state if the decennial census 
shows that the population of the state has increased unequally 
in various sections, or in case the apportionment act of Con¬ 
gress changes the state’s representation. 

In many cases states have redistricted their territory for 
illegitimate reasons. The Federal provision with reference to 
contiguous territory has been loosely interpreted: in many 
cases territory is held to be contiguous if it touches the district 
at any point. The requirement that districts shall be of nearly 
equal population has often been disregarded altogether. Since 
the state legislature is controlled by the political party having 
a majority, the dominant party can arrange the district lines 
so as to secure a party majority in the greatest possible number 
of districts. This is done by concentrating the opposition 
votes in a few districts which would be hostile under any cir¬ 
cumstances, and so grouping the remaining votes as to insure 
for the dominant party a majority in numerous districts. 

567 . Gerrymandering. — The result of this illegitimate re¬ 
districting has been to create districts of great irregularity. 
In 1812, when Elbridge Gerry was Governor of Massachusetts, 
the Republican party was in control of the state legislature. 
In districting the state so as to win for themselves as many 
districts as possible, the Republicans gave one of the Con¬ 
gressional districts a dragon-like appearance. To the suggestion 
of a famous painter that this looked like a salamander, a local 
wit replied that it was more nearly a Gerrymander. The term 
“gerrymander ” has since continued to be used to designate 
this type of illegitimate redistricting. 1 

568 . Term of Representatives. — Representatives are elected 
for two years, the legal term commencing on the 4th of March 
following the election. Except in the case of a special ses¬ 
sion, the actual service of Representatives does not commence 

1 For the relation of gerrymandering to the problem of minority 
representation, see Chapter XXXV. 


470 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


until the first Monday in December, thirteen months after 
election. Members are frequently reelected, the average term 
being about four years. When for any reason a vacancy occurs 
in the representation from any state, the Governor may, on 
the authority of the Federal Constitution, issue a writ of election 
to fill the vacancy. A special election is then held in the district 
in which the vacancy has occurred, and the Representative 
so chosen serves for the remainder of the term. 1 

C. The Powers of Congress 

569. Special powers of the Senate. — Of the three powers 
exercised exclusively by the Senate, the power to approve 
treaties is one of the most important. All treaties negotiated 
by the President must be approved by a two-thirds vote of 
the Senate before becoming law. The treaty may be approved 
or rejected as a whole, or it may be rejected in part, and ad¬ 
ditional articles recommended as amendments. If changed in 
form or content by the Senate the treaty does not become law 
until both the President and the foreign power have assented 
to the amendment or change. 

In order to become valid, a large number of Presidential 
appointments must receive the approval of the Senate. 2 

The Senate exercises a special judicial function in that it 
may sit as a court of impeachment for the trial of persons 
whom the House of Representatives has formally charged 
with treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 
Excluding military and naval officers, who are tried by court- 
martial, and excluding also members of Congress, who are 
subject only to the rules of their respective houses, all Federal 
officers are subject to impeachment. Impeachment requires a 
two-thirds vote of the Senators present. Removal from office 
and disqualification to hold any ofiice under the United States 
is the heaviest penalty which can be imposed upon an im¬ 
peached official. 

1 The privileges and immunities of Representatives are similar to 
those of Senators. See Section 561 of this chapter. 

2 See Chapter XLII, Section 542. 


NATURE AND POWERS OF CONGRESS 471 

570. Special powers of the House. — The House likewise 
enjoys three special powers. 

One of these is the right to elect a President of the United 
States in case no candidate has a majority of the electoral 
votes. This has happened only twice, in 1800, and again in 
1824. 

The Federal Constitution provides that all revenue bills 
must originate in the lower house. However, the Senate has 
come to share this power through its power to amend such bills. 

The House of Representatives has the sole power to prefer 
charges of impeachment, that is to say, to present what may 
be called the indictment against the accused official. The 
case is then tried before the Senate, the House appointing a 
committee of its own members to act as the prosecuting agency. 

571. General survey of the powers of Congress. — The 
powers of Congress, i.e. the two houses acting together, are of 
two kinds: First, express powers, by which is meant those 
specifically enumerated in the Federal Constitution; and 
second, implied powers, by which is meant those which are 
incident to express powers and necessary to their execution. 
The foundation of the doctrine of implied powers is the con¬ 
stitutional clause 1 which authorizes Congress to make all laws 
“necessary and proper” for carrying out the powers granted 
it by the Federal Constitution. 

Grouping express and implied powers together, the more 
important powers of Congress may be summarized as follows: 

Revenue and expenditures. Congress has the power to lay 
and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, and to appro¬ 
priate money in order “to pay the debts and provide for the 
common defense and general welfare of the United States.” 
But indirect taxes must be uniform throughout the United 
States, and all direct taxes, except income taxes, must be appor¬ 
tioned among the states according to population. A further 
limitation is that Congress may not tax exports from any 
state, nor levy upon the “necessary instrumentalities” of any 
state government. 

1 Article I, Section VIII, of the Constitution. 


47 2 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


National defense. Here the powers of Congress are practically 
unlimited, except by the constitutional provisions that the Pres¬ 
ident shall be commander-in-chief, and that military appro¬ 
priations shall not be made for more than two years. Congress 
can raise and support armies, create and maintain a navy, and 
provide for the organization and use of the state militia. Con¬ 
gress may also declare war, and make rules concerning captures 
on land and sea. 

Foreign relations. Congress as a body has little direct control 
over foreign relations, though the Senate shares the treaty¬ 
making power with the President. But Congress has the power 
to create diplomatic and consular posts, as well as “to define 
and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, 
and offences against the law of nations.” Congress also exer¬ 
cises control over immigration and naturalization. 

Economic interests. Congress may regulate commerce with 
foreign countries, among the several states, and with the 
Indian tribes. The exclusive power to coin money, and other¬ 
wise control the monetary system, is vested in Congress. Con¬ 
gress may make uniform laws on bankruptcy throughout the 
United States, and fix the standards of weights and measures. 
The establishment of post offices and post roads, and the 
protection of authors and inventors through legislation on 
patents and copyrights, are also functions of Congress. 

Territories. Congress has the power to dispose of, and make 
all needful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or 
other property belonging to the United States. Congress 
likewise exercises exclusive control over the District of Columbia, 
and over all places purchased by the Federal government for 
the erection of forts, arsenals, and similar buildings. Congress 
also has the right to determine the admission to the Union of 
new states, and “to dispose of and make all needful rules and 
regulations respecting the territory or other property belong¬ 
ing to the United States.” 

Crime. In criminal matters the power of Congress is slight. 
For example, it cannot say what constitutes treason, since 
that crime is defined by the Constitution. However, Congress 


NATURE AND POWERS OF CONGRESS 


473 


may provide for the punishment of counterfeiters and persons 
committing crimes on the high seas or offences against inter¬ 
national law. It may also define certain crimes against Federal 
law, and prescribe penalties therefor. 

Control over the judiciary. The judiciary is an independent 
branch of government, but Congress may determine the number 
of Supreme Court judges, fix their salaries within certain limits, 
and define their appellate jurisdiction. Congress may also 
determine the jurisdiction, and define the procedure, of the 
inferior Federal courts. 

Implied powers. Last among the powers of Congress is the 
authority granted to it by the Constitution to make all laws 
which shall be deemed necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the powers expressly granted to Congress by the 
Constitution. It is under the authority of this clause that the 
implied powers of Congress have been so greatly expanded. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What influences are responsible for the fact that Congress is a 

two-chambered body? 

2. Discuss the term and qualifications of Senators. 

3. How were Senators elected prior to 1913? How are they elected 

at the present time? 

4. What are the chief privileges and immunities of Senators? 

5. Discuss the membership of the House of Representatives. 

6. What is the nature of the Congressional district? 

7. What are the qualifications for Representatives? 

8. Who may vote for Representatives? 

9. What is gerrymandering? 

10. What three powers are exercised exclusively by the Senate? 

11. What are the special powers of the House? 

12. Under what two heads may the general powers of . Congress be 

classified? 

13. Outline briefly the chief powers of Congress. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xiii. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chap¬ 

ters xxii and xxiii. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States , chapter xiv. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xxi. 


474 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What was the Connecticut compromise? (Guitteau, pages 248-249.) 

2. Why does the Constitution provide that one third of the Senate 

shall retire every second year? (Reed, page 255.) 

3. What criticism has been brought against the principle of the equal 

representation of states in the Senate? (Guitteau, page 249.) 

4. Compare the growth of the Senate with the growth of the House 

of Representatives. (Reed, page 258.) 

5. What is the relative position of the two houses of Congress? (Reed, 

pages 257-258.) 

6. What is the right to “frank”? (Reed, page 258.) 

7. What are the “supplementary” powers of Congress? (Munro, 

page 217.) 

8. What are the powers of Congress with respect to weights and 

measures? (Beard, page 259.) 

9. What was Jefferson’s attitude toward the powers of Congress? 

(Munro, page 209.) 

10. What is the scope of the implied powers of Congress? (Munro, 
pag,e 214.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Congressional districts in your state. 

2. The biography of one of the Senators representing your state in 

Congress. 

3. Make a study of your Representatives in Congress, with respect 

to their age, length of service, political principles, and attitude 
toward such national questions as the tariff, military defense 
and taxation. 

4. A brief comparison of Congress with your state legislature. 

II 

5. Place of the Senate in our National government. (Reinsch, Read¬ 

ings on American Federal Government, pages 127-134.) 

6. The House of Representatives in the United States compared 

with the British House of Commons. (Kaye, Readings in Civil 
Government, pages 149-155.) 

7. Gerrymandering. (Beard, Readings in American Government and 

Politics, pages 219-220; see any other standard text on American 
Government.) 

8. The immunities of Congressmen. (Cleveland, Organized De¬ 

mocracy, chapter xxvii.) 


NATURE AND POWERS OF CONGRESS 475 

9. Relation of the two houses of Congress. (Bryce, The American 
Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter xviii.) 

10. The Senate as a judicial body. (Bryce, The American Common¬ 

wealth, vol. i, chapter x.) 

11. Constitutional limitations on the powers of Congress. (Munro, - 

The Government of the United States, chapter xx.) 

12. Relation of Congress to the President. (Bryce, The American 

Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter xx.) 

13. The war powers of Congress. (Any standard text on American 

government.) 

14. The taxing power of Congress. (Any standard text on American 

government.) 

15. Other financial powers of Congress. (Any standard text on Ameri¬ 

can government.) 

16. The power to regulate commerce. (Any standard text on American 

government. An excellent reference is Munro, The Government 
of the United States, chapter xvii.) 

17. The postal powers of Congress. (Young, The New American 

Government and its Work, chapter xiii.) 

18. The control of Congress over territories. (Kimball, The National 

Government of the United States, chapter xxii. See also any other 
standard work on American government.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

19. Direct versus indirect election of Senators. 

20. To what extent, if to any, should Congressmen consider the needs 

of their local district as of more importance than the needs of 
the nation as a whole? 

21. Should the interval between the election of Representatives and 

the meeting of Congress be shortened? 

22. Should we retain equal representation of states in the Senate, 

or should this principle be discarded as “undemocratic”? 


CHAPTER XLV 


CONGRESS IN ACTION 

A. Organization of Congress 

572 . Congressional sessions.—The Federal Constitution 
requires Congress to assemble at least once a year, and Congress 
has provided that the date of meeting shall be the first Monday 
in December. In addition to such special sessions as may be 
called either by the President or by Congress itself, there are 
two regular sessions. One of these is the long session, from 
December of each odd year until Congress adjourns, generally 
sometime during the following summer. The other is the short 
session, beginning when Congress assembles in December of 
each even year, and ending at noon on the 4th of March 
following. 

The two houses of Congress jointly fix the time for adjourn¬ 
ment, but in case they cannot agree upon this point, the Pres¬ 
ident has the right to adjourn them to such time as he thinks 
fit. During the congressional session, neither house may, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses 
are sitting. Since 1800 congressional sessions have regularly 
been held at Washington, D. C., the National capital. 

573 . Internal organization.—-Each house of Congress has 
the right to determine its own rule of practice, punish members 
for disorderly conduct, and, by a two-thirds vote, expel a 
member. Members guilty of acts of violence or abusive lan¬ 
guage may be punished by a vote of censure, or may be obliged 
to apologize to the house. For the commission of a grave 
offense, a Congressman may be expelled from the house to 
which he was elected. 

The Constitution requires that u each house shall keep a jour- 
476 


CONGRESS IN ACTION 


477 


nal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, 
excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; 
and the yeas and nays of the members of either house shah, 
at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered upon the 
journal. The object of this is to secure a permanent record 
of legislative action, as weh as publicity of proceedings. The 
vote by yeas and nays fixes responsibility for his vote upon each 
member by making it a matter of pubhc record. The Con¬ 
gressional Record, an official account of Congressional debates 
and proceedings, appears daily during Congressional sessions. 
This is supposedly a verbatim report of what is said in each 
house, but as a matter of fact members are allowed to edit and 
revise their remarks before these are printed. In the case of 
the House, many of the published speeches have never been 
delivered at all. 

574 . The officers of Congress. — In the House of Represent¬ 
atives the chief officer is the Speaker, or presiding officer. The 
Speaker is chosen from the membership of the House by that 
body itself. As will be pointed out shortly, this officer is an 
important personage. 

In the Senate the Vice President of the United States acts 
as the presiding officer. In the absence of the Vice President, 
or in case that officer succeeds to the Presidency, the Senate 
itself chooses a president pro tempore to occupy the chair. 
The presiding officer of the Senate is much less powerful than 
the Speaker of the House, indeed he is little more than a chair¬ 
man or moderator. 

There are a number of additional officers of Congress, who 
are chosen by the respective houses from outside their own 
membership. These officers include a clerk, who in the Senate 
is called the secretary; the door-keeper; the sergeant-at-arms; 
the postmaster; and the chaplain. Nominally these officers 
are chosen by each house, but as a matter of practice the choice 
is made by the caucus of the majority party, which is held a few 
days before the organization of each house. 

575 . The Speaker of the House of Representatives. —A 
few days before the organization of the House, the caucus of 


478 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the majority party settles upon its choice for Speaker. The 
candidate chosen invariably receives the solid vote of his party 
in the House, since it is a rule of the caucus that party members 
who take part in its discussions must abide by its decisions. 

As chairman of the House, the Speaker performs the custom¬ 
ary duties of a presiding officer. He opens and closes the 
sittings of the House, maintains order, and decides questions 
of parliamentary law. The Speaker acts as the official rep¬ 
resentative of the House in its collective capacity, and authenti¬ 
cates all official proceedings by his signature. It is he who an¬ 
nounces the order of business, states the question, and announces 
the vote. He also has the right to appoint the chairman of the 
committee of the whole. The Speaker takes part in debate and 
may also vote. 

576 . Power of the Speaker over legislation. — In addition 
to performing the customary duties of a presiding officer, the 
Speaker possesses important powers over legislation. The im¬ 
perfect organization of the House, and its lack of effective 
leadership, as well as the vast amount of business coming before 
it, have tended to centralize much of the legislative power 
of the House in the hands of this officer. 

The Speaker of the House has the power to determine to 
which committee a bill shall be referred. Thus he may deter¬ 
mine the fate of a measure by sending it to a committee which 
he knows to be hostile to the bill, or to a friendly committee, 
just as he likes. 

It is the Speaker who decides when a member is entitled to 
the floor, and no motion or speech can be made except by a 
member who has been duly recognized by the chair. There 
are a number of unwritten rules in this regard, but in the last 
analysis the Speaker may recognize only persons whom he 
desires to have speak. Thus Congressmen who are not of the 
Speaker’s party may be kept from making themselves heard 
upon important measures. When a bill is before the. House, 
the chairman of the committee in charge of the measure usually 
hands the Speaker a list of Congressmen who are to be heard 
upon the floor. By recognizing only those whose names appear 


CONGRESS IN ACTION 479 

on this list, the Speaker may confine the discussion to members 
who are favored by himself and his party. 

The Speaker has the power to decide points of order, and 
otherwise to deal with such obstructions to legislative business 
as the filibustering tactics of the minority party. Often this 
power is exercised in connection with the quorum. The quorum 
or number of members who must be present in order that busi¬ 
ness may be transacted, is fixed by the Constitution as a major¬ 
ity of each house. Formerly it was the habit of minority mem¬ 
bers to remain silent at roll-call, so that if several members 
of the majority party were absent, it might be that no quorum 
would appear. In such a case legislative business would be 
blocked. But in 1890 Speaker Reed adopted the practice, 
since become invariable, of counting as present members 
actually in the House, whether or not they respond to their 
names at roll-call. The Speaker also checks filibustering by 
disregarding all motions and appeals which he thinks are made 
simply for the purpose of obstructing legislative business. 

577 . The committee on rules. — Of great importance in 
the House is the committee on rules. This committee has the 
power to decide upon the order for considering bills, and to 
determine the length of debates. It also determines the time 
when the vote shall be taken. This it does by “reporting a 
rule,” that is to say, by presenting a report as to the time 
and conditions under which the House shall consider a measure. 
This report takes precedence over all other business. Thus 
the fate of a bill may be determined by the committee on 
rules. 

Previous to 1910 this committee consisted of the Speaker, 
and two majority and two minority members named by the 
Speaker. But in the 61st Congress, there occurred what has 
been called the “revolution of 1910.” This “revolution” 
opposed Speaker Cannon’s policy of using for personal and 
partisan purposes his power to appoint the other members of 
the committee on rules. As the result of a violent agitation 
the House finally placed marked restrictions upon the Speaker’s 
control over the committee. The membership of the committee 


480 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


on rules was increased, first to ten, and then to twelve. Of 
these twelve members eight belong to the majority party and 
four are minority members. The committee is no longer chosen 
by the Speaker, but is selected by the House itself. The Speaker 
is even excluded from membership in the committee. 

578. The Congressional committee system. 1 — In both 
houses of Congress the assembly is divided into a number 
of committees, each of which is charged with the consideration 
of legislation dealing with particular subjects. Previous to 
1911 the Speaker appointed all House committees, but since 
that date all committees have been chosen by the House as 
a body, though in practice the decisions are made by the cau¬ 
cuses of the majority and minority parties, held just before 
the organization of the House. Similarly, the Senate chooses 
its own committees from lists drawn up by the caucuses of 
the two political parties. In either house, the minority party 
has such representation upon committees as the majority 
party chooses to allow. There are in the House more than 
fifty of these committees, while in the Senate the number is 
even larger. In the House of Representatives the more im¬ 
portant committees are those on rules, ways and means, appro¬ 
priations, judiciary, banking and currency, interstate and foreign 
commerce, and rivers and harbors. 

B. The Making of a Federal Law 2 

579. How legislation is initiated. — The course of congres¬ 
sional legislation may be illustrated by following a bill through 
the House of Representatives. 

Any member of the House may introduce a bill by filing it 
with the clerk. The title of the bill is printed in the Journal 
and Record, this constituting a first “reading.” The bill is 
then delivered to the Speaker, who refers it to the proper com- 

1 For a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the com¬ 
mittee system see Chapter XXXVI. 

2 A more detailed account of the law-making process may be found 
in Reed, Form and Functions of American Government , Chapter XXII. 


CONGRESS IN ACTION 


481 


mittee. Once a bill has been passed to the committee its fate 
rests largely with that body. The committee may confer 
with certain administrative officers, listen to individuals inter¬ 
ested in the subject, summon and examine other persons, 
and then reach a decision upon the bill. The committee may 
amend the bill as it pleases. If unfavorable to the measure, 
the committee may report it adversely, or too late for legisla¬ 
tive action. Indeed, it may even fail to report it at all. 
Theoretically the House may overrule the committee’s decision 
on a bill, but so generally are the committee’s recommenda¬ 
tions followed by the House that the adverse action of the 
committee virtually kills a bill. 

580 . The bill is reported to the House. — Let us suppose 
that the committee reports the bill back to the House. The 
measure is then placed upon a calendar and here awaits its 
turn, unless the committee on rules sees fit to direct the imme¬ 
diate attention of the House to it. The second reading is an 
actual and full reading of the bill for the purpose of allowing 
amendments to be offered. After the second reading, which 
may result in the adoption of amendments, the Speaker puts 
the motion, “Shall the bill be engrossed and read a third time?” 
Debate is then in order. If the vote which follows is in the 
affirmative, the bill is read a third time, but only by title. The 
question of passage is put by the Speaker immediately after 
the third reading. 

581 . Debate upon the bill. — Debate in the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives has little influence upon most bills, the fate of a 
measure being practically determined by the committee con¬ 
sidering it. Most speeches are frankly intended for political 
purposes, and for circulation in the Congressional Record , rather 
than as actual and positive influences upon the bill which is 
being discussed. 

Debate in the House is limited in several ways. No 
member may spend more than an hour in debate upon 
any question, except the member in charge of the bill. This 
member may have an additional hour at the close. In the 
committee of the whole, speeches are limited to five minutes. 


482 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


No member may speak more than once on the same subject 
without special - permission from the chair. The single excep¬ 
tion to this rule is the member who has introduced the bill. 
Before debate begins, the chairman of the committee in charge 
of the bill arranges, in consultation with the Speaker, a list 
of members who are to be heard upon the bill. No other mem¬ 
bers are ordinarily recognized by the Speaker in the ensuing 
debate. 

After a certain amount of discussion the member in charge 
of the bill will generally move the previous question in order 
to cut short the debate and bring the House to a direct vote 
upon the question. 

582. The vote. — In the House voting may be by any one 
of three methods. Voting may be by “sound of voices.” In 
this case the Speaker calls in turn for the “ayes” and “noes,” 
and decides by the volume of the sound whether the motion 
has been carried or lost. This is usually the method first em¬ 
ployed, but either of the other two methods may be demanded 
before or after voting by sound of voices has been employed. 

Voting may be by tellers. When this is decided upon the mem¬ 
bers pass between tellers appointed by the Speaker — those in 
the affirmative first — and are counted. This method requires 
the demand of one fifth of a quorum. 

Voting may be by yeas and nays. In this event, the clerk 
calls the roll and each member, as his name is reached, answers 
“aye” or “no,” the vote then being recorded. The Consti¬ 
tution provides that one fifth of the members present may 
demand the yeas and nays. Since it takes a long time to call 
the roll of the House, demands for roll-calls are frequently 
employed by minorities with the intent of obstructing leg¬ 
islative business. 

583. The bill goes to the Senate. — A bill defeated in the 
House never reaches the Senate, of course. 

But if it receives a majority vote in the House, it is engrossed 
and sent to the Senate. Here the bill goes through practically 
the same stages as in the House. 1 If the Senate rejects the bill, 
1 In the Senate, however, debate is unlimited. 


CONGRESS IN ACTION 


483 

the measure is dead. If the Senate passes the bill without 
amendment, it is returned to the House, and enrolled on parch¬ 
ment for signature by the President. If the Senate amends the 
bill, the bill and the attached amendments are returned to 
the House. If the House disagrees with the proposed changes, 
it may either ask for an inter-house conference, or it may simply 
send a notice of its disagreement to the Senate. In the latter 
case, the Senate either reconsiders its amendments, or asks 
for a conference. In case of a conference, each house appoints 
an equal number of “ managers,” who arrive at some sort of 
compromise, and embody this in a report. This report is 
acted upon by each house in separate session. 

584. The bill goes to the President. — Bills killed in Con¬ 
gress never reach the President, but a measure duly approved 
by both houses is then sent to the chief executive for his ap¬ 
proval. If he signs it, the bill becomes law. If he does not 
approve it, he may return it with his objections to the house 
in which it originated. If this house votes for the passage of 
the measure by a two-thirds majority, and if this action is con¬ 
curred in by the other house, the measure becomes law over the 
veto of the President. If the President neither signs nor returns 
the measure within ten days, it automatically becomes law. 
However, measures reaching the President during the last ten 
days of the congressional session become law only if signed by 
him. His failure to sign a bill reaching him under these circum¬ 
stances constitutes a “pocket veto.” 

Questions on the Text 

1. Distinguish between the two regular sessions of Congress. 

2. Describe the internal organization of the houses of Congress. 

3. Name and briefly characterize the chief officers of Congress. 

4. What are the customary duties of the Speaker of the House? 

5. By what means does the Speaker influence legislation? 

6. What is the nature and function of the committee on rules? 

What changes in the character of this committee occurred in 
1910? 

7. Outline the organization of the Congressional committee system. 

8. How may a bill be introduced into the House of Representatives? 


4§4 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


9. Outline the steps in enacting a Federal law. 

10. Discuss the nature and limits of the Presidential veto. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xiv. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xxiv, 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter xxi. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xxii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is the relation of party organization to leadership in Congress? 

(Beard, pages 267-269.) 

2. Discuss the constitutional rights of the minority in the House 

of Representatives. (Beard, pages 288-289.) 

3. What is the influence of the Senate upon our national financial 

policy? (Munro, pages 307-308.) 

4. What are the chief advantages of the committee system? (Guitteau, 

pages 275-276.) 

5. What are the chief defects of this system? (Guitteau, pages 

275-276.) 

6. What effect has the practice of unlimited debate in the Senate 

had upon legislative business? (Beard, pages 275-276.) 

7. What is one of the most important defects of Congressional leg¬ 

islation? (Munro, pages 310-311.) 

8. What is the “morning hour”? (Reed, page 273.) 

9. What is done with a bill which the President has signed? (Reed, 

page 277.) 

to. To what extent is Congress responsive to Public Opinion? (Munro, 
page 299.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Compare the internal organization of Congress with the organ¬ 

ization of your state legislature. 

2. Compare the officers of Congress with the officers of your state 

legislature. 

3. Compare the committee system of Congress with the committee 

system in your state legislature. 

4. Compare the practice of debate in the National House of Represent¬ 

atives with the use of debate in the lower house of your state 
legislature. 

5. Compare Congress with your state legislature with respect to- 

volume of legislation. 


CONGRESS IN ACTION 


48s 


II 

6. The business of Congress. (McCall, The Business of Congress.) 

7. Rules of the Senate. ( Manual of the Senate.) 

8. The Senate at work. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, 

vol. i, chapter xii.) 

9. Rules of the House of Representatives. ( Manual of the House 

of Representatives .) 

10. The Speaker of the House. (Follett, The Speaker of the House of 

Representatives.) 

11. Leadership in the House. (Beard, American Government and 

Politics, pages 280-286.) 

12. The career of Speaker Clay, Blaine, Reed, or Cannon. (Consult 

an encyclopedia, or special biographies of these Speakers.) 

13. The House of Representatives at work. (Bryce, The American 

Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter xiv.) 

14. Congressional finance. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, 

vol. i, chapter xvii.) 

15. The committee system in Congress. (Bryce, The American 

Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter xv; McCall, The Business of 
Congress, chapters iii and v.) , 

16. An Englishman’s view of legislation in the Congress of the United 

States. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. i, chap¬ 
ter xvi.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

17. Should the Speaker of the House be deprived of the power to refer 

bills to whatever committee he chooses? 

18. Should the powers of the presiding officer of the Senate be in¬ 

creased? 

19. Is debate in the House of Representatives too greatly restricted? 

20. Should the privilege of “franking” be restricted? 

21. Should the President’s power to veto bills be extended? Should 

it be restricted? 


CHAPTER XLVI 


THE FEDERAL COURTS 

A. Framework oe the Federal Courts 

585. Constitutional basis of the Federal judiciary. — The 

Federal Constitution makes only slight reference to the struc¬ 
ture of the Federal courts. It merely provides that the judicial 
power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme 
Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time 
to time ordain and establish. 

In accordance with this provision, Congress in 1789 passed 
the Judiciary Act, which still forms the basis of our Federal 
judicial system. The Judiciary Act provided for the organiza¬ 
tion of the Supreme Court, and also created a system of circuit 
and district courts. It likewise distributed Federal jurisdiction 
among the three grades of courts, estabhshed the office of 
Attorney-General, and provided for a Federal marshal in each 
judicial district. In order- to relieve the Supreme Court of 
part of its appehate jurisdiction, Congress in 1891 created 
nine circuit courts of appeals. In 1912, Congress abolished 
the circuit courts which had been estabhshed by the Act of 1789. 

At the present time, thus, there are three grades of Federal 
courts: the Supreme Court, nine circuit courts of appeals, 
and eighty-one district courts. In addition there are several 
special Federal courts. 

586. Federal judicial agents. —All Federal judges are 
appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the 
Senate. They hold office for life, or during good behavior. 
Since Federal judges can be removed from office only by im¬ 
peachment, they are relatively independent, both of the appoint¬ 
ing power and of the popular will. 

486 


THE FEDERAL COURTS 


487 

Judges receive salaries which may be increased, but which 
cannot be diminished, during their term of office. Each of 
the eight associate justices of the Supreme Court receives an 
annual salary of $14,500, while the Chief Justice receives 
$14,900 a year. Circuit judges receive a salary of $7000 a year. 
Each district court judge receives $6000 a year. Upon reaching 
the age of seventy years, any Federal judge who has held his 
commission for at least ten years, may resign and continue to 
draw full salary during the remainder of his life. 

Some additional judicial agents may be mentioned. In each 
Federal judicial district there is an United States marshal, 
who is charged with the duty of enforcing the orders of the 
court. There is also in each district a Federal prosecutor, 
who has the title of United States district attorney. It is this 
officer who institutes proceedings against persons violating 
Federal law. Both marshals and district attorneys work under 
the direction of the Attorney-General of the United States. 

587 . The Supreme Court.—-At the head of the Federal 
judicial system stands the Supreme Court. This tribunal 
holds its annual sessions at Washington, D. C., usually from 
October until May. By far the most important business coming 
before this court involves questions of constitutional law. 1 
Cases involving questions of constitutionality are always 
brought up to the Supreme Court, from either the lower Federal 
courts, or from the state courts. Cases of this kind are brought 
before the Supreme Court either on appeal or by writ of 
error. 

When a case is submitted to the Supreme Court, each justice 
makes an independent study of it, and a conference is then 
held, in which the various sides of the question are discussed 
and a decision reached. The Chief Justice then requests one 
of his colleagues to prepare the “opinion of the court,” con- 

1 Jurisdiction over questions of constitutionality is a form of appellate 
jurisdiction. In addition, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction 
in (1) cases affecting diplomatic and consular officers, and (2) cases to 
which a State is a party. In practice, however, the original jurisdic¬ 
tion of the Supreme Court has been relatively unimportant. 


488 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


taining the conclusions reached by the majority. In impor¬ 
tant cases, the disagreeing minority prepares a “dissenting 
opinion,” setting forth their reasons for believing that the 
case should have been decided otherwise. This dissenting 
opinion does not, however, affect the validity of the decision 
reached by the majority of the justices. 

588. The Circuit Court of Appeals. — The United States is 
divided into nine circuits, in each one of which a Circuit Court 
of Appeals exercises jurisdiction. The Circuit Court consists 
of three judges. As a general proposition this court has appel¬ 
late jurisdiction to review the decisions of the district courts, 
but in some instances cases may be taken from the district 
courts directly to the Supreme Court of the United States. 
In cases in which jurisdiction results from the fact that the 
suit is one between an American citizen and an alien, or between 
citizens of different states in the Union, the decision of the 
Circuit Court of Appeals is generally final. The jurisdiction 
of this court is also final in all cases arising under the revenue, 
patent, and copyright laws of the United States. 

589. The District Court. — The lowest of the regular Federal 
courts is the District Court. One of these courts exists in each 
of the eighty-one districts into which the country is divided. 
For each district court there is generally a separate district 
judge, who holds court at one or more places within the 
district. 

The matters which may be brought before a Federal District 
Court are various. Among other things, the jurisdiction of 
the court extends to all crimes and offenses cognizable under 
the authority of the United States, cases arising under the 
internal revenue, postal and copyright laws, proceedings in 
bankruptcy, all suits and proceedings arising under any law 
regulating immigration, and also all suits and proceedings 
arising under any law to protect trade and commerce against 
monopoly. 

590. Special Federal courts. — Besides the three sets of 
Federal courts described above, Congress has from time to 
time created a number of special courts. 


THE FEDERAL COURTS 


489 

The Court of Claims was created in 1855. It consists of 
five justices, sitting at Washington, and exercising jurisdiction 
over cases involving claims against the United States. 

In 1911 Congress created the Court of Customs Appeals, 
consisting of five judges who may review the decisions of the 
Board of General Appraisers with respect to the classification 
and taxation of imports. 

Congress has also provided a system of territorial courts 
to handle cases arising in the territories and in the District 
of Columbia. 

Courts-martial for the trial of military and naval offenses 
have also been provided for by congressional statute. 

B. The Federal Courts in Action 

591. Jurisdiction of the Federal courts. — The Federal courts 
exercise limited, rather than general, jurisdiction. That is to 
say, they have authority to try only such cases as are specifi¬ 
cally placed within their jurisdiction by the Constitution, or by 
congressional statute. Cases falling within the jurisdiction of 
the Federal courts may be grouped under two heads: First, 
cases affecting certain parties or persons, and second, cases 
relative to certain matters. 

Under the first head may be grouped cases affecting ambas¬ 
sadors, other diplomatic representatives, and consuls. In the 
same group are controversies to which the United States is 
a party, controversies between two or more states, controver¬ 
sies between a state and the citizens of another state, con¬ 
troversies between citizens of different states, and controver¬ 
sies between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, 
citizens or subjects thereof. 

Under the second head fall three types of cases: First, contro¬ 
versies between citizens of the same state claiming lands under 
grants of different states. Second, cases of admiralty and 
maritime jurisdiction, and third, cases in law or equity arising 
under the Constitution or laws of the United States, or treaties 
made under their authority. 


490 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

592. The writ of habeas corpus. 1 —• In the exercise of their 
judicial functions the Federal courts have the power of issuing 
three great writs affecting the rights of citizens. 

Of these the most famous is the writ of habeas corpus. This 
writ is designed to secure to any imprisoned person the right 
to have an immediate preliminary hearing for the purpose of 
discovering the reason for his detention. Where the writ is 
properly issued, the prisoner is brought into court for a sum¬ 
mary examination. If it is found that he has been detained 
in violation of law, he is released; if not, he is remanded 
for trial. 

Federal judges may not issue writs of habeas corpus indis¬ 
criminately. A writ can be issued only in the following cases: 
First, when a prisoner is in jail under Federal custody or author¬ 
ity; second, when an individual is in jail for some act done or 
omitted in pursuance of a law of the United States or the order, 
process, or decree of some Federal court or judge; third, when 
an individual has been detained because of violation of the 
Constitution or some law or treaty of the United States; and 
fourth, when a citizen of a foreign country claims to be im¬ 
prisoned for some act committed with the sanction of his 
government. 

593. The writ of mandamus. — The writ of mandamus may 
be used against public officials, private persons, and corpora¬ 
tions, for the purpose of forcing them to perform some duty 
required of them by law. Properly used, the writ of mandamus 
is called into action to compel executive officers to perform some 
administrative duty. The court will not intervene, however, 
where the duty is purely discretionary and its performance 
dependent either upon the pleasure of the official, or upon his 
interpretation of the law. Usually the applicant for a writ 
of mandamus must show that he has no other adequate legal 
remedy, and that he has a clear legal right to have the action 
in question performed by the officer. 

1 For the general arrangement of the material in Sections 568-570, 

I am indebted to Professor Beard’s American Government and Politics , 
to which text acknowledgment is here made. 


THE FEDERAL COURTS 


49 1 


594. The writ or bill of injunction. — This writ may be of 
several distinct types. It may take the form of a mandatory 
writ, ordering some person or corporation to maintain a status 
quo by performing certain acts. For example, striking rail¬ 
way employees may be ordered to continue to perform their 
regular and customary duties while remaining in the service 
of their employer. 

The injunction may take the form of a temporary restrain¬ 
ing order forbidding a party to alter the existing condition of 
things in question until the merits of the case have been decided. 
This is often used in labor disputes. 

Sometimes the writ is in the form of a permanent injunction 
ordering a party not to perform some act, the results of which 
cannot be remedied by any proceeding in law. This, too, has 
often been used in labor disputes. 

595. Judicial interpretation of the statutes. — The crowning 
feature of the American judiciary is its power to pass upon the 
constitutionality of state and Federal laws. The Constitution 
does not give to the courts the power to declare state or Fed¬ 
eral statutes invalid on the ground that they conflict with the 
Federal Constitution, but in the famous case of Marbury v. 
Madison in 1803, Chief Justice Marshall demonstrated that 
under the Constitution the Supreme Court must possess the 
power of declaring statutes null and void when they conflict 
with the fundamental law of the land. In deciding against the 
validity of a law, the court does not officially annul it, but 
merely refuses to enforce the statute in the particular case 
before the court. Thereupon, the executive officials who might 
be charged with the administration of that particular law, 
neglect to enforce it. 

596. General policy of the Federal courts.—The Federal 
courts have consistently refused to decide abstract questions 
not presented in the form of a concrete case between parties 
to an actual suit. The Supreme Court, for example, will take 
no notice of a statute until the question of its constitutionality 
arises in the form of a concrete case. 

The Federal courts have consistently refused to interfere in 


r ■ 

' cx/ Tf P 

492 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

purely political questions, the decision of which rests with 
executive or legislative authorities. For example, the court 
will not touch questions of the existence of war or peace, or the 
admission of a new state into the Union. 

In reaching a decision, two forces are brought to bear upon 
the courts. First, the character of previous decisions in similar 
or analogous cases influences a decision. Second, important 
consideration is given the demands of justice or equity in the 
particular case in hand, regardless of precedent. Generally 
speaking judicial decisions strike a course midway between 
these two extremes. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What does the Federal Constitution say concerning the structure 

of the Federal courts? 

2. What act forms the basis of our Federal judicial system? 

3. How are Federal judges chosen, and what are their salaries? 

4. Name some judicial agents other than judges. 

5. What is the nature and function of the Supreme Court? 

6. What is the nature and function of the Circuit Court of Appeals? 

Over what cases has it jurisdiction? 

7. What matters may be brought before the District Court? 

8. What is the purpose of the Court of Claims? 

9. Name some other special Federal courts. 

10. What two classes of cases fall within the jurisdiction of the Federal 

courts? » 

11. What is the nature and purpose of the writ of habeas corpus? 

12. What is the purpose of the writ of mandamus? 

13. What three forms may the writ or bill of injunction take? 

14. What is the crowning feature of the American judicial system? 

15. Outline the general policy of the Federal courts. 

16. What two forces help determine a decision? 


Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xv. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States , chapter 

xxviii. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States , chapter jpdv. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xxiii. 


THE FEDERAL COURTS 


493 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Into what two branches may law be divided? (Munro, page 355 .) 

2. What is equity? (Munro, page 351 .) 

3. What are the judicial functions of the Attorney-General of the 

United States? (Beard, page 300.) 

4. What different grades of law are administered in the Federal 

courts? (Guitteau, page 338.) 

5 . Discuss the part played by partisan politics in judicial decisions. 

(Beard, pages 310-312.) 

6. What classes of people are exempted from jury service? (Munro, 

page 354.) 

7. Distinguish between the original and the appellate jurisdiction of 

the Supreme Court. (Guitteau, pages 334 - 335 .) 

8. How are cases presented to the Supreme Court? (Beard, page 296.) 

9. What is the significance of the Marbury v. Madison case? (Reed, 

page 284.) 

10. Name some other historical decisions which have been handed 
down by the Supreme Court. (Guitteau, pages 339-340.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Make a study of the Federal judicial district in which you live, 

with respect to territory embraced in the district, names and 
powers of Federal judicial agents, etc. 

2. If possible, visit a near-by Federal court and observe the conduct 

of a trial. 


11 

3. The American doctrine of judicial supremacy. (Haines, The 

American Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy .) 

4. The American system of courts compared with the European 

system of courts. (Bryce, The American Commonwealth, vol. i, 
chapter xxv.) 

5. Restraints on judicial officers in the United States. (Cleveland, 

Organized Democracy, chapter xxxiii.) 

6. Procedure in the United States Supreme Court. (Reinsch, Read¬ 

ings on American Federal Government, pages 716-717.) 

7. The courts and the Constitution. (Beard, The Supreme Court 

and the Constitution; Bryce, The American Commonwealth , 
vol. i, chapter xxiii.) 

8. The constitutionality of government regulation of commerce, 

(Goodnow, Social Reform and the' Constitution, chapter vi.) 


fl |pf!| 

494 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

9. Attitude of the courts toward social legislation. (Goodnow 
Social Reform and the Constitution, chapter viii.) 

10. The Marbury v. Madison case. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

11. The Dartmouth College case. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

12. The life of John Marshall. (Consult an encyclopedia.) 

13. Characteristics of a good judge. (Kaye, Readings in Civil Gov¬ 

ernment, pages 247-250.) 

14. Evolution of the judiciary. (Gettell, Introduction to Political 

Science, chapter xx.) 

15. Relation of the judiciary to the executive branch of government. 

(Gettell, Introduction to Political Sceince, chapter xx.) 

16 . Relation of the judiciary to the legislative branch of government. 

(Gettell, Introduction to Political Science, chapter xx.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

17. Should Federal judges enjoy life terms, or should their terms of 

service be limited to a specific number of. years? 

18. Did the framers of the Constitution intend that the Supreme Court 

should pass upon the constitutionality of Acts of Congress? 
(See Beard, The Supreme Court and the Constitution.) 

19. Do you believe that there should be any restriction upon the 

present power of the Supreme Court to pass upon the constitu¬ 
tionality of Acts of Congress? 

20. In the leading European countries what corresponds to our Supreme 

Court is divided into a number of sections. Do you believe that 
our Supreme Court ought to be reorganized on a similar plan? 
(See Munro, The Government of the United States , page 369.) 


B. State and Local Government 
CHAPTER XLVII 

CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF STATE GOVERNMENT l 

597. Constitutional limitations on state governments. — 

Under the Articles of Confederation the states exercised prac¬ 
tically sovereign powers; in the interests of a strong National 
government the Constitution adopted in 1789 distinctly limited 
the scope of state government. The Federal Constitution 
transferred many important powers from the states to the 
Federal government, and imposed certain specific limitations 
upon state governments. The more important of these limita¬ 
tions are as follows: 

No state may, without the consent of Congress, lay or collect 
imposts and duties upon exports and imports. The single 
exception to this constitutional prohibition is that a state 
may lay such imports or duties as are absolutely necessary for 
executing its inspection laws. No state may lay a tonnage 
duty without the consent of Congress. 

No state may levy a tax on the property, lawful agencies, 
or instrumentalities of the Federal government. This is not 
a constitutional limitation, but was deduced by Chief Justice 
Marshall from the nature of the Federal system. In recent 
years, however, this doctrine has been modified to mean that 
no state may tax a federal instrumentality if such a tax would 
impair its efficiency in performing the function which it was 
designed to serve. 

States may legislate concerning local commercial matters, 
but no state may interfere with interstate commerce. No 

1 For a fuller discussion of the constitutional basis of state govern¬ 
ment, see Chapter XXII of Beard’s American Government and Politics. 

495 


496 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

state may pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts. 
The states have practically no control over the monetary 
system. They may not coin money, emit bills of credit, or 
make anything but gold and silver coin legal tender. States 
may charter and regulate state banks, however, and may also 
authorize a state bank to issue notes for circulation. 

No state may make or enforce any law which abridges the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. No 
state shall pass any bill of attainder, by which is meant a 
legislative act which inflicts punishment upon some person 
without ordinary judicial trial. Nor may any state pass an 
ex post facto law, that is to say, a law which imposes pun¬ 
ishment for an act which was not legally punishable at the 
time when it was committed. Lastly, no state may deprive 
any citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process of 
law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the law. 

598. Powers of state governments.—Federal law is the 
highest law of the land, and no state constitution, state statute, 
or local law or ordinance, may contravene it. But beyond this 
restriction, the authority of the state is supreme. Just as 
state government must defer to Federal authority, so local 
government is subservient to state authority. Just as the 
Federal Supreme Court may declare unconstitutional any 
executive or legislative act, either of the National, state, or 
local authorities, so the Supreme Court of any state may de¬ 
clare null and void the acts of state or local authorities which 
conflict with its constitution. Though they are limited by 
the Federal Constitution in matters which are preeminently 
national, the states reserve to themselves a vast body of 
authority. Almost all of the ordinary activities of life are 
controlled by state or local governments, rather than by the 
Federal government. 

599. Classification of state constitutions: according to age. 

— Each of the forty-eight states in the Union has a written 
constitution. To bring out the fundamental similarities and 
differences among the various state constitutions, these docu- 


CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF STATE GOVERNMENT 497 

merits may be classified in two ways, first as to age, and 
second, in the light of democratic development. 

If state constitutions are classified on the basis of age, it 
will be noted that the constitutions of Massachusetts, Con¬ 
necticut, Rhode Island, and other New England states show 
signs of having been strongly influenced by colonial precedents. 
Next come constitutions which in form and general content 
stand midway between the earlier New England constitutions 
and those of more recent years. The constitutions of New 
York (1894), Pennsylvania (1873), Indiana (1851), Wisconsin 
(1848), Kentucky (1891), Minnesota (1857), and Iowa (1857), 
are examples. Next come those constitutions of the southern 
states which have been revised within the last quarter of a 
century. Finally, we may note that California, Oregon, Okla¬ 
homa and a few other western states have recently drafted new 
constitutions in which there has been a more or less radical 
departure from the precedents set in the older commonwealths. 

600. Classification of state constitutions: in the light of 
democratic development.—Between 1776 and 1800 American 
state constitutions were generally brief and conservative. 
Between 1800 and i860 the growing tendency toward dem¬ 
ocratic control resulted in the formation of state constitutions 
which were more and more liberal. During this period fear 
of the masses was superseded by distrust of the executive and 
an unbounded faith in the people acting in their collective 
capacity. The suffrage was extended, the governor and often 
state judges came to be elected by direct vote, and the power 
of the state legislature was enlarged. 

After i860 there was a reverse movement. This was due 
partly to a growing faith in the executive, and partly to a 
reaction against the abuse of power by state legislatures. 
Particularly the more recent state constitutions have limited 
the power of the state legislature, increased the power of the 
executive, provided for the centralization of the state admin¬ 
istration, and shortened the ballot. The present tendency 
among state constitutions is to continue in the direction of the 
above-mentioned reforms. 


498 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


A. The Parts of a State Constitution 

601 . The bill of rights. — A vital part of a state constitution 
is the bill of rights, roughly corresponding to the first ten amend¬ 
ments to the Federal Constitution. Generally the bill of rights 
affirms the principle of republican government, maintains that 
all powers are inherent in the people, and declares that all free 
government is formed by the authority of the people. A typical 
bill of rights also provides that the laws of the state shall not 
be suspended except by the legislative assembly, and includes 
the traditional limitations on behalf of private rights. These 
include the right of free speech; the right to jury trial; the free 
exercise of religious worship; the right peaceably to assemble 
and petition the government for redress of grievances; the 
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus except in case of rebellion, 
invasion, or public danger; the prohibition of excessive bail, 
and cruel and unusual punishments; and compensation for 
private property when taken for public use. 

602 . The framework of government. — A second part of 
a typical state constitution deals with the distribution of 
powers, the limitations upon state officials and other elements 
in the framework of government. Especially in the more 
recent constitutions is the form of state government outlined 
in considerable detail. In addition to providing a system of 
checks and balances by separating the executive, legislative, 
and judicial powers of state government, this part of the con¬ 
stitution defines and limits the suffrage, provides for the organ¬ 
ization of the state legislature, and prescribes the limitations 
under which the legislature must operate. The election of the 
Governor and other important state officials is provided for, 
as is the relation of rural and municipal government to the 
state government. This part of the constitution likewise 
creates the state judicial system, though the regulation of 
details with regard to jurisdiction, procedure, and appeals is 
generally left to the discretion of the state legislature. 

603 . State finances. — A third division of a typical state 
constitution places a number of limitations upon the financial 


CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF STATE GOVERNMENT 499 

powers of the state legislature. These provisions are often 
detailed and complicated and hence are difficult to summarize. 
Their general purpose, however, is to fix a debt limit beyond 
which the legislature cannot go, and to compel that body to 
make adequate provision for the payment of interest and 
principal in the case of debts which shall be incurred. 

604. Control of economic interests. — The more recent 
state constitutions provide in considerable detail for 'the regula¬ 
tion of economic interests within the state. The activities of 
industrial organizations are often narrowly restricted. In many 
states the constitution provides for a corporation commission 
with large powers in the regulation of rates and charges, as 
well as general supervision of corporate business. Many recent 
constitutions specify the conditions under which women and 
children may be employed in industrial establishments. 

605. Provision for the general welfare. — An increasingly 
important part of the state constitution deals with the general 
welfare. Such vital concerns as the public school system are 
dealt with. In a typical western state, for example, the con¬ 
stitution requires the legislature to provide free instruction in 
the common schools of the state for all persons between the 
ages of five and twenty-five. The same document sets aside 
certain revenues for educational purposes. The safeguarding 
of the public health, and detailed provision for the creation and 
maintenance of public institutions for the dependent, defective, 
and delinquent classes, are other concerns of this part of the 
state constitution. 

606. Provision for amendment. — In about two thirds of 
the states the constitution provides for its own amendment 
by a constitutional convention composed of delegates elected 
by the voters of the state. The convention method is univer¬ 
sally employed when a new constitution is desired. Sometimes 
the state constitution provides for the holding of such con¬ 
ventions at regular intervals, but generally the initiative is 
left to the legislature. When, by vote or by resolution, this 
body declares in favor of a convention, the proposition is 
placed before the voters. If a majority of these favor the 


500 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

project, the legislature arranges for the election of delegates, 
and fixes the time and place of the convention sessions. After 
the convention has completed its work, it is customary for the 
new constitution to be submitted to the people for approval. 

Another common way of amending the state constitution, 
found in every state except New Hampshire, is through leg¬ 
islative action subsequently ratified by popular vote. By this 
method separate constitutional amendments may be adopted, 
without necessitating a wholesale revision of the. constitution. 
Such individual amendments are usually proposed by the leg¬ 
islature and are later submitted to popular vote. In some 
states only a majority vote of the legislature is required for the 
proposal of amendments, but ordinarily a special majority of 
two thirds or three fourths of the members of each house is 
required. In a few states, amendments cannot be considered 
until they have been proposed by two successive legislatures. 
After the amendment has been proposed for the second time, 
it must be ratified at the polls. 

Within the last decade several states, particularly in the 
West, have adopted a more direct method of amending the 
constitution. This is through the Initiative and Referendum. 1 
In Oregon, for example, 8 per cent of the legal voters may peti¬ 
tion for a proposed amendment to the constitution. The 
proposal is then submitted to the voters, and if it receives a 
majority of all votes cast, it becomes part of the state consti¬ 
tution. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Michigan, 
Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, and other states 
allow this type of constitutional amendment. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What are the chief limitations imposed upon state governments 

by the Federal Constitution? 

2. Discuss the range of authority enjoyed by state governments. 

3. Classify state constitutions on the basis of age. 

4. Discuss the classification of state constitutions in the light of 

democratic development. 

1 The general question of the Initiative and Referendum is treated 
in Chapter XXXVII. 


CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF STATE GOVERNMENT 501 

5. What is the nature of a “bill of rights”? 

6. Discuss the framework of government as provided for in the state 

constitution. 

7. What provision for state finances does a typical state consti¬ 

tution contain? 

8. What are some of the provisions in state constitutions concerning 

economic interests? 

9. How may a state constitution provide for the general welfare? 

to. Describe the three ways in which state constitutions may be 
amended. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics , chapter xxii. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter viii. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter xxviii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. What is the significance of the “Revolutionary constitutions”? 

(Guitteau, page 86.) 

2. What is the relation of present-day state constitutions to the 

original colonial charters? (Munro, page 404.) 

3. Distinguish between the “constituent” and the “law-making” 

power. (Munro, page 405.) 

4. Into what two *parts may the early state constitutions be divided? 

(Guitteau, page 86.) 

5. Discuss the check and balance system as provided for in the con¬ 

stitutions of the various states. (Guitteau, page 89.) 

6. What authority controls the admission of new states into the 

Union? (Beard, pages 443-445.) 

7. What does the constitution of Oklahoma say concerning the writ 

of habeas corpus? (Beard, page 449.) 

8. Describe the procedure in a constitutional convention. (Munro, 

pages 410-411.) 

9. What is the relation of the state constitution to the state courts? 

(Beard, pages 452-453.) 

10. Enumerate the principles which commonly govern the attitude 
of the state courts toward the acts of the state legislature. 
(Beard, pages 452-453.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. The history of your present state constitution. 

2. The bill of rights in your state constitution. 

3. The framework of government as provided for in the constitution 

of your state. 


502 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

4. Methods by means of which your state constitution may be 

amended. 

5. Classify and briefly characterize the amendments which have 

been appended to the constitution of your state. 

11 

6. Meaning of the term “constitution.” (Gettell, Readings in Political 

Science , pages 232-283.) 

7. Types of constitutions. (Gettell, Readings in Political Science, 

pages 284-285; Kimball, State and Municipal Government in 
the United States, chapter ii.) 

8. Methods of amending constitutions. (Gettell, Readings in Political 

Science, pages 299-300.) 

9. Difficulties of constitutional amendment in the United States. 

(Gettell, Readings in Political Science, page 301.) 

10. Procedure in the state constitutional convention. (Massachusetts 

Constitutional Convention Bulletins, No. 1. Hoar, Constitutional 
Conventions.) 

11. Recent changes in constitutions. (Dealey, Growth of American 

State Constitutions from 1776 to the end of the Year 1914.) 

12. Present tendencies in state constitutions. (Reinsch, Readings on 

American State Government, pages 443-449.) 

13. The constitution of Oklahoma. (Reinsch, Readings on American 

State Government, pages 450-464.) 

14. A comparison of constitutional amendment in Europe and con¬ 

stitutional amendment in the United States. (Borgeaud, 
Adoption and Amendment of Constitutions in Europe and America.) 

15. British constitutions. (Gettell, Readings in Political Science, 

pages 286-287; 292-293.) 

16. French constitutions. (Gettell, Readings in Political Science, 

pages 297-298.) 

17. German constitutions. (Gettell, Readings in Political Science, 

pages 298-299.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

18. Does the Federal Constitution too narrowly restrict the activities 

of the state governments? 

19. Does the bill of rights in your state constitution adequately pro¬ 

tect your rights? 

20. Does the constitution of your state too narrowly restrict the finan¬ 

cial powers of the state legislature? 

21. Is your state constitution too easy of amendment? Is it too 

difficult of amendment? 

22. Recent state constitutions tend to be very long and detailed. 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development? 


CHAPTER XLVIII 


THE STATE EXECUTIVE 

A. The Governor 

607 . The election of the Governor. —In every state in the 
Union the Governor is elected by popular vote. In most of 
the states this election takes place, together with that of other 
state officials, on the Tuesday following the first Monday in 
November. Usually a gubernatorial candidate is required to 
be at least thirty years of age. He must be a United States 
citizen, and also a resident of his state of at least five years’ 
standing. 

The Governor’s term varies from two years in Massachusetts 
to four years in more than twenty states. In general, the 
term of office is increasing. The average salary received by 
a state Governor is $5000 a year. 

608 . Limitations upon the Governor. — A number of factors 
operate to limit the power of the state Governor. 

The Federal Constitution limits his authority by declaring 
that persons charged with crime in, and escaped from, a neigh¬ 
boring state, must be delivered up to the executive authorities 
of the state in which the crime is charged to have been com¬ 
mitted. 

The executive power of state government is not concen¬ 
trated under the Governor, but is shared by the Governor 
with a host of administrative officials. Many of these officials 
are elected directly by the people, and cannot, therefore, be 
held accountable by the Governor. Furthermore, the actual 
execution of the state laws rests primarily with municipal 
and other local officials, and over these officers the Governor 
has little or no control. The express powers of the President 

■503 


504 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

of the United States have been rather liberally interpreted by 
the courts, but the powers of the state Governor have generally 
been construed in a narrow and literal sense. In many states 
the power of the Governor rarely or never extends beyond the 
express limits imposed by the state constitution. 

609. Executive powers of the Governor. — The Governor is 
charged by the state constitution to see that the laws are 
faithfully executed. This is similar to the chief duty of the 
President of the United States, but whereas the President is 
aided by subordinate administrative officials over whom he 
has complete control, the Governor must act through a large 
number of state and local officials over whom he has little 
effective control. 

Of some value, however, is the power of the Governor to 
exercise general supervision over the various executive officers 
of the state. He enjoys, in addition, the power to appoint 
many of the subordinate administrative officials. Usually these 
appointments must be confirmed by the upper house of the 
state legislature. In most cases the Governor cannot remove 
officials so appointed without the consent of the senate or 
council. 

The Governor is commander-in-chief of the armed forces 
of the state, and when the regular officers of the law are unable 
to cope with domestic violence, he is empowered to call out 
the militia. In this connection, the Governor has the power of 
suspending the writ of habeas corpus , though most states 
declare that this writ may not be suspended except in times 
of rebellion and invasion. Two or three states have recently 
provided that the writ of habeas corpus may not be suspended 
in any case whatsoever. 

610. Legislative powers of the Governor. — In general the 
Governor occupies the same relation to the state legislature, 
as does the President toward Congress. Thus the Governor 
may send periodic messages to the legislature, and may recom¬ 
mend such legislative measures as he believes desirable. The 
Governor often communicates with the legislature concerning 
the financial condition and needs of the state. The Governor 


THE STATE EXECUTIVE 


505 


may also call special sessions of the state legislature, for the 
consideration of urgent matters. In case the two houses of 
the legislature are unable to agree upon a time for adjourn¬ 
ment, the Governor may adjourn the state legislature. 

In one respect the Governor’s power of veto exceeds that 
of the President, for in about two thirds of the states the Gov¬ 
ernor may veto individual items in appropriation bills. This 
privilege is denied the President, who must accept or reject 
a measure as a whole. Like the President, the Governor influ¬ 
ences legislation through his relations with the leaders of his 
party in the legislature, as well as through his power of the 
patronage. 

611. Judicial powers of the Governor. — In almost every 
state the Governor has considerable control over the issuance 
of pardons and reprieves, in the case of all offenses committed 
against the state. In some states the power to issue pardons 
and reprieves is exercised with the consent of the state legis¬ 
lature, in other states the Governor shares this power with a 
board of pardons; in a few states the Governor may act alone. 

612. Tendency of the Governors power to increase. — The 
earlier state constitutions tended to restrict the powers of the 
Governor, and to extend liberal grants of power to the state 
legislature. Of recent years the abuse of legislative power has 
tended to encourage suspicion of the legislature and a growing 
confidence in the. Governor. As a consequence, the Governor’s 
term is in many states increasing. In the effort to shorten 
the ballot and concentrate responsibility for the state adminis¬ 
tration upon some one official, various states are increasing the 
appointive power of the Governor. In a few states tfie Gover¬ 
nor now has authority to make special inquiries into the work¬ 
ings of the various executive departments, with a view to check¬ 
ing inefficient and irresponsible methods of work. In some 
states the Governor’s share in budget-making is increasing. 
In the majority of states the general tendency toward a shorter 
ballot, the reorganization of the state administration, and other 
methods of reforming state government, will probably con¬ 
tinue to enlarge the power and influence of the Governor. 


5°6 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


B. The State Administration 

613. The older group of administrative officers. — Aside 
from the Governor, the administrative officers of the state 
fall into two groups: First, the older officers, who are rela¬ 
tively few, and who are almost always elective; and second, 
the newer officers, boards, and commissions, who are relatively 
numerous, and who may be either elective or appointive. 

The first group comprises such officers as the Lieutenant 
Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, the 
Auditor or Comptroller, and the Attorney-General. These 
older officers are usually elected at the general state election, 
for a term varying from state to state. These officers are not 
under the control of the Governor, but fulfill duties prescribed 
by the constitution, and are responsible only to the people 
and to the courts. They may be, and often are, of a different 
political party than the Governor, and since they are not 
under the control of that official, they often work at cross¬ 
purposes with him. This lack of coordination is in striking 
contrast to the harmony of action existing between the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States and the heads of the Federal Executive 
Departments. 

614. The newer group of administrative officers. — As 

state government has increased in complexity, the older group 
of administrative officers has been supplemented by the addition 
of a large number of new officers. 

These newer administrative officials are quite numerous, but 
their general character may be indicated by dividing them into 
two clasfts : 

The first class includes individual officers, such as, for ex¬ 
ample, a superintendent of prisons, a state architect, a state his¬ 
torian, a commissioner of health, a food inspector, a geologist, 
a commissioner of corporations, a commissioner of banking, a 
superintendent of public works, and a state surveyor. 

Besides individual officers, the newer group of administrative 
officials includes a large number of boards and commissions 
which have been created by the state legislature and endowed 


THE STATE EXECUTIVE 


507 


with large powers for the study and control of specific matters. 
The following boards and commissions are examples of this 
second class: A state civil service commission, a tax commission, 
a board of charities and correction, a water supply commission, 
a tax equalization board, a quarantine commission, a voting 
machine commission, a board of pharmacy, a highway com¬ 
mission, and a public service commission. 

615. Defects of state administration. 1 — The enlargement 
of the state administration by this creation of numerous indi¬ 
vidual offices, boards, and commissions indicates an attempt 
on the part of state governments to grapple with the problems 
of democracy. Nevertheless, this rapid growth of the state 
administration has had serious consequences. Once created, 
many of the newer officers have attempted to perpetuate them¬ 
selves. State legislatures have been harassed by boards and 
commissions seeking unnecessary appropriations. Politicians 
without expert training or ability are often placed on boards 
and commissions dealing with technical matters. 

Responsible and efficient state government is rendered 
difficult by the inability of the Governor effectively to control 
the few elective officials who constitute the older group of 
administrative officers; an even greater difficulty arises from 
the creation and expansion of the newer group of officers. 
The excessive number of individual officers, boards, and com¬ 
missions makes for inefficient and irresponsible government. 
Some of these officials are elected by the people, others are ap¬ 
pointed by the Governor. Their terms vary so widely that, as 
Professor Beard has pointed out, the appointing power never has 
an opportunity to make a clean sweep and introduce more effi¬ 
cient administrative methods. There is little or no coordina¬ 
tion between the various administrative offices, and very little 
centralization of responsibility. 

616. The state civil service. — The spoils system has long 
constituted a defect, not only in the Federal government but 
in American state government as well. 2 And as in the case of 

1 For a fuller discussion of this problem, see Chapter XXXVI. 

2 This problem is further discussed in Chapter XXXIV. 


508 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the National government, this evil has been attacked primarily 
through the merit system. New York state led the way in 
1883 by passing a comprehensive Civil Service Act. This 
law provided for a commission authorized to cooperate with 
the Governor in preparing rules, classifying the state civil 
service, and conducting the examinations for the positions to 
be filled. Since then, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Colorado, New 
Jersey, California, Ohio, Illinois, and other states have adopted 
some type of civil service system. 

State civil service laws are largely modelled after the national 
Civil Service Act of 1883. In most of the legislating states 
laws of this type provide for competitive examinations of a 
practical nature; they prohibit political and religious inter- 
rogatives; and they forbid the assessment of holders of civil 
service positions for political purposes. Appointment and pro¬ 
motion are upon the basis of merit, although as in the case 
of the Federal civil service, the standards for judging the 
character and capacity of individual officeholders have not 
yet been perfected. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What are the qualifications of the state Governor? 

2. What limitations restrict the power of the Governor? 

3. Outline the executive powers of the Governor. 

4. What are the chief legislative powers of the Governor? 

5. Describe the judicial powers of the Governor. 

6. Is the power of the Governor increasing or decreasing? 

7. Into what two groups may state administrative officers be divided? 

8. Name some of the officials in the older group. 

9. Discuss the character of the newer group of officials. 

10. Name the chief defects of state administration. 

11. Discuss the state civil service. 


Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xxiv. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter x. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapters xxx and xxxi. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter x. 


THE STATE EXECUTIVE 


509 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. How many states elect the Governor for two years? (Beard, 

page 490.) 

2. How is the Governor of Mississippi elected? (Beard, page 489.) 

3. What is the function of the lieutenant governor? (Beard, 

pages 499-500.) 

4. What are the functions of the state treasurer? (Beard, page 500.) 

5. What are the chief duties of the attorney-general of the state? 

(Beard, page 500.) 

6. Discuss the impeachment process in state government. (Beard, 

pages 508-509.) 

7. Name some miscellaneous duties of the Governor. (Reed, page 116.) 

8. What is the nature of the Governor’s messages? (Reed, page 118.) 

9. How is a vacancy in the Governorship filled? (Munro, page 433.) 

10. Name some states in which the movement for the consolidation 

of state administrative offices is active. (Guitteau, page 112.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

I 

1. Term, qualifications, and salary of the Governor of your state. 

2. A short biography of the present Governor of your state. 

3. Platform on which the present Governor of your state was elected. 

4. A comparison of the influence exerted by the President of the 

United States upon the National legislature, and the influence 
exerted upon the state legislature by the Governor of your 
commonwealth. 

5. A classification of the administrative officers of your state. 

6. History of the merit system in your state. 

II 

7. A comparative study of state governors in the United States. 

(Beard, American Government and Politics , page 491.) 

8. The legislative power of the Governor. (Mathews, Principles 

of American State Administration , chapter iii.) 

9. The veto power of the Governor. (Munro, The Government of 

the United States, pages 435 - 438 .) 

10. Some special functions of the Governor. (Mathews, Principles 

of American State Administration, chapter v.) 

11. The administrative power of the Governor. (Mathews, Principles 

of American State Administration, chapter iv.) 

12. Relation of the Governor to law enforcement. (Reinsch, Readings 

on American State Government, pages 26-40.) 


510 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

13. The organization of the state administration. (Mathews, Prin¬ 

ciples of American State Administration, chapter vii.) 

14. The work of the state administration. (Munro, The Government 

of the United States, chapter xxxi; Kimball, State and Municipal 
Government in the United States, chapter ix.) 

15. The selection of state officials. (Mathews, Principles of American 

State Administration, chapter viii.) 

16. The removal of state officials. (Mathews, Principles of American 

State Administration, chapter viii.) 

17. The State civil service. (Mathews, Principles of American State 

Administration, chapter ix.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

18. Should the veto power of your state Governor be still further 

restricted? Should it be enlarged? 

19. Should the administrative offices in your state be reorganized 

and consolidated? 

20. Ought the merit system in your state to be extended? 

21. Advantages and disadvantages of choosing administrative officials 

by direct vote. 


CHAPTER XLIX 


THE STATE LEGISLATURE 

617. Structure of the state legislature. — The representative 
branch of state government is known under different names in 
various states, but the term “state legislature” is in more 
or less general use. 

The state legislature is invariably a two-chambered body; 
the upper house is the smaller and is called the senate, while 
the lower and more numerous branch is variously known as 
the house of representatives, house of delegates, or assembly. 

Usually the state senate differs from the lower house in 
certain important particulars. The senatorial districts from 
which members of the upper house are elected are always 
larger than are the districts from which members to the lower 
house are chosen. Senators are usually chosen for longer terms 
than are representatives. As in the case of the National Senate, 
the senate (in most states) is made a continuous body by the 
provision that its members shall begin their terms at certain 
periodic intervals. In the lower house of the state legislature, 
on the other hand, all of the members take their seats at the 
same time. 

618. Basis of representation. — For the purpose of electing 
members of the state legislature, practically all of the states 
are divided into numerous senatorial and representative elec¬ 
tion districts. Some states apply the rule that representatives 
in the state legislature shall be apportioned among districts 
containing practically an equal number of inhabitants. 

Other states, however, provide exceptions to this rule. For 
example, Alabama, Florida, New York and other states provide 
that each county shall have at least one member in the house. 
Often the result of this arrangement is that the smaller or 

511 


512 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


more sparsely populated counties are over-represented in the 
state legislature, while the more populous counties are under¬ 
represented. 

Several states, notably Connecticut and Vermont, arrange 
representation in the state legislature so that with respect to 
population, cities are under-represented and rural districts 
are over-represented. 1 

619. Membership. — The state constitution determines the 
qualifications of those who are entitled to vote for state leg¬ 
islators. 2 Generally, anyone qualified to vote for a state leg¬ 
islator is also eligible to membership. However, holders of 
both Federal and state offices are excluded from sitting in the 
state legislature. 

In some states the term of a senator is the same as that of 
a representative, but generally senators are elected for a longer 
term than are members to the lower house. Representatives 
are generally chosen for two years, senators for four. 

In all states, members of the legislature are paid, either a 
fixed annual salary or a per diem allowance based upon the 
length of the legislative session. In most states senators and 
representatives receive equal compensation. 

All state legislators are privileged from arrest or civil process 
during the session. In addition they enjoy the usual privilege 
of free speech in their official capacities. 

620. Organization. —Formerly state legislatures met annu¬ 
ally, but at present the great majority convene only once in 
two years. In the effort to cut down the amount of super¬ 
fluous legislation, a number of state constitutions now restrict 
the legislative session to from forty to ninety days. The leg¬ 
islature may adjourn itself to meet later in special session, or 
the Governor may call special sessions. The Governor may 
adjourn the legislature, if the two houses fail to agree upon 
a time for adjournment. 

1 For a discussion of the problem of minority representation in 
state legislatures, see Chapter XXXV. 

2 For an enumeration of these qualifications, see Chapter XXXIII, 
Section 415. 


THE STATE LEGISLATURE 


513 


In internal organization, the state legislature resembles 
Congress. Except that the lieutenant governor is often the 
presiding officer of the senate, each house chooses all of its 
own officers. Each house determines its own rules of pro¬ 
cedure and keeps a journal of its proceedings. In addition, 
each house exercises the right of deciding upon the qualifications 
of its members, and disciplines and punishes its members for 
misconduct. As in the national legislature, work is expedited 
by the committee system. The party is a dominant force in 
the state as well as in the national legislature. 

621. Powers of the state legislature. — The law-making 
powers of the state legislature extend to practically all subjects. 
The presumption is that this body has a right to legislate upon 
any subject, unless specific prohibitions have been imposed 
upon it by either the Federal or the state constitution. 

The Federal Constitution forbids any state legislature to 
emit bills of credit, coin money, or pass laws impairing the 
obligation of contracts. Neither bills of attainder nor ex post 
facto legislation may be enacted by a state legislature. The 
Federal Constitution likewise declares that state legislatures 
may neither abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens 
of the United States, nor deprive persons of life, liberty, or 
property without due process of law. No state may deny 
to any person within the state jurisdiction the equal protection 
of the laws. 

Restrictions imposed by the state constitution fall into sev¬ 
eral groups. These include restrictions in favor of trial by jury, 
religious freedom, and other privileges usually embodied in a 
bill of rights; provisions controlling the grant of special favors 
to corporations; restrictions upon the financial powers of the 
state legislature; provisions defining the framework of state 
government; and prohibitions upon the power of the legis¬ 
lature to pass special and local laws. 1 

1 A special or local law is one which applies to some particular 
individual or corporation, or to some particular city, county, or other 
locality. Prohibitions upon special and local laws are necessary in 
order to prevent the legislature from extending special favors to partic¬ 
ular individuals or localities. 


514 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

622. How a state law is made. — Bills may originate in 
either house of the state legislature, except that in most states 
money bills must originate in the lower chamber. 

To illustrate law-making in the state legislature, let us 
assume that a bill is introduced in the lower house. This may 
be done by any one of several methods. Any member of the 
house may deposit a bill in a box near the speaker’s desk. 
Sometimes a bill is introduced by the report of a committee, 
or even by a messenger from the senate. When the bill has 
been introduced, it is given a first reading. With the consent 
of the house, the speaker then refers the measure to the ap¬ 
propriate committee. The adverse report of the committee 
generally kills the bill; but if the bill is favorably reported, 
and this report is approved by the house, the bill is placed on 
the order of second reading and is debated section by section, 
unless by unanimous vote it is advanced to the third reading. 
If the bill passes the second reading, it is generally referred to 
the committee on revision. It is then engrossed, reported back 
to the house for the third reading and the final vote. Some¬ 
times the yeas and nays of this final vote are entered upon the 
journal, so that responsibility may be fixed upon each member. 

The bill then goes to the senate, where the procedure is 
very much like that of the house, except that the committee 
of the whole sometimes takes the place of the order of the 
second reading as conducted in the house. 

623. The bill goes to the Governor. — In every state except 
North Carolina, a bill which has passed both branches of the 
legislature must then go to the Governor for approval. If 
this officer signs it, it becomes law. If he disapproves of it, 
he returns it with his objections to the house in which it origi¬ 
nated. In spite of this objection by the Governor the legislature 
may enact the measure into law, if a sufficiently large majority 
in each house votes in favor of the bill. This majority is usually 
two thirds of the members in each house. 

Generally the Governor has a ten-day period in which to 
consider bills. If a bill is not returned to the legislature with 
his objections within this period, it automatically becomes 


THE STATE LEGISLATURE 515 

law without his signature, unless the adjournment of the leg¬ 
islature prevents its return to that body. In most states the 
Governor has the important privilege of vetoing particular 
items in appropriation bills, while sanctioning the rest of the 
measure. 

624. Defects in state legislation. 1 — There is, among stu¬ 
dents of American government, a general agreement that the 
legislative procedure of the various states evidences a number 
of serious defects. 

One of these defects is the absence of responsibility. Any 
member of the state legislature may introduce as many bills 
as he likes, but he need not assume responsibility for any 
of them. 

Another serious evil is the lack of experience and technical 
skill on the part of legislators. Legislators are frequently 
ignorant of the subject matter with which they are called upon 
to deal. There is a tendency for legislators to ignore the effect 
of a new statute upon the existing body of law. Nor is the 
constitutionality of the measure contemplated always taken 
into account. Ill-advised and pernicious legislation is the 
result. 

Log-rolling and lobbying constitute another defect of state 
legislation. Log-rolling leads to the passage of numerous bills 
without their adequate scrutiny by individual members, and 
without either individual members or legislative committees 
assuming responsibility for those measures. The pressure 
exerted upon state legislatures for legislation favoring special 
interests is still great. 

625. The reform of legislative procedure. — A few states 
have attempted to overcome the lack of technical information 
on the part of legislators by providing for expert bill drafters. 
In New York, for example, the state legislature has been 
provided with a number of competent bill drafters whose duty 
it shall be, during the session of the legislature, to draw bills, 
examine and revise proposed bills, and advise as to the legal 
effect of any legislation. These bill drafters may be set to 
1 For a fuller discussion see Chapter XXXVI. 


516 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

work on the request of either house, or of a committee, member, ^ 
or officer thereof. 

A large number of states now have a legislative reference 
bureau which keeps a careful record of the laws passed in the 
various states of the Union. This bureau maintains a library, 
and issues bulletins for the guidance of legislators. 

In 1909 Wisconsin created the office of reviser. This officer 
keeps a loose-leaf system of laws, and collects court decisions 
affecting statutes. At the beginning of each session this officer 
also presents to the committees on revision of each house of 
the legislature, bills providing for such consolidation and 
revisions as may be completed from time to time. The reviser 
supervises the preparation, printing, and binding of such com¬ 
pilations of particular portions of the statutes as may be ordered 
by the head of any state department. 

There is an increasing tendency to curb lobbying in state 
legislatures. The laws of New York and Wisconsin may be 
taken as typical. That of New York provides that every 
person retained or employed for compensation as a counsel 
or agent by any person, firm, corporation, or association, to 
promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the passage of any 
bill or resolution, must be registered every year in the office 
of the secretary of state, and must give the name of the person 
by whom he is retained. The Wisconsin law provides that 
legislative agents or counsels may not attempt to influence 
members privately, but must confine themselves to arguing 
before committees and filing printed briefs with the members 
of the legislature. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Discuss the structure of the state legislature. 

2. In what ways does the senate usually differ from the lower house? 

3. What is the basis of representation in the state legislature? 

4. How are the qualifications of state representatives determined? 

5. Compare the term of senator with that of state representative. 

6. Outline the organization of the legislature. 

7. Compare the organization of the state legislature with that of 

the national legislature. 


THE STATE LEGISLATURE 517 

8. What is the scope of power enjoyed by the state legislature? 

9. What limitations are placed upon state legislatures? 

10. Describe the making of a state law. 

11. Discuss the veto power of the Governor. 

12. What are some defects of state legislation? 

13. Outline some attempts to eliminate these defects. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xxv. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter ix. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter, xxix. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of the United States Government, chap¬ 

ter xi. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Under what four heads may the limitations on state legislatures 

be grouped? (Guitteau, page 101.) 

2. What limitations are imposed upon state legislatures by the 

republican nature of state government? (Guitteau, page 102.) 

3. In what states are annual legislative sessions held? (Guitteau, 

page 96.) 

4. Why has the legislative session been shortened in some states? 

(Reed, pages 123-124.) 

5. Under what three heads may state legislative power be classified? 

(Guitteau, page 100.) 

6. What is the most important of the powers of the state legislature? 

(Reed, page 128.) 

7. What are the non-legislative duties of the state legislature? (Guit¬ 

teau, pages 100-101.) 

8. What can be said as to the personnel of the state legislature? (Reed, 

page 126.) 

9. What is a “rotten borough”? (Beard, page 521.) 

10. Why are state laws frequently of inferior quality? (Munro, 

page 428.) 


Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1 . A comparison of the upper with the lower house of your state 

legislature. 

2 . Gerrymandering in your state. 

3 . Occupations and professions represented in the membership of 

your state legislature. 

4 . The character of legislation recently enacted by your state leg¬ 

islature. 


5*8 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


II 

5. Development of the law-making department. (Gettell, Readings 

in Political Science, pages 341-342.) 

6. General principles of legislative organization. (Gettell, Readings 

in Political Science, page 343.) 

7. Advantages of the bicameral system. (Gettell, Readings in Po¬ 

litical Science, page 344.) 

8. The function of the legislature. (Gettell, Readings in Political 

Science , page 357.) 

9. The lobby. (Reinsch, Readings on American State Government , 

pages 79-84.) 

10. Financial procedure in state legislatures. (Reinsch, Readings on 

American State Government , pages 56-61.) 

11. The actual work of making a law. (Reed, Form and Functions 

of American Government, chapter xii.) 

12. Legislative apportionments. (Reinsch, American Legislatures and 

Legislative Methods, chapter vii.) 

13. Obstacles to intelligent law-making. (Gettell, Readings in Po¬ 

litical Science, pages 358-359.) 

14. Danger of over-legislation in the United States. (Gettell, Read¬ 

ings in Political Science, page 361.) 

15. The legislative reference bureau. (Reinsch, Readings on American 

State Government, pages 63-73.) 

16. The relation of the state legislature to local government (Gettell, 

Introduction to Political Science, chapter xxii.) 

17. Public forces influencing legislation. (Reinsch, American Leg¬ 

islatures and Legislative Methods , pages 275-298.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

18. Would shortening the length of the legislative session improve 

the character of legislation in your state? 

19. Should members of the state legislature be residents of the dis¬ 

tricts from which they are chosen, or should they be chosen 
on a state-wide ticket? 

20. Should our state legislatures be made unicameral? (See Munro, 

The Government of the United Stales, pages 416-418.) 


CHAPTER L 


THE STATE COURTS 

A. Sources oe Law 

626. English common law. — One important source of our 
system of jurisprudence is the English common law. This law 
is not found in the enactment of statutes, but consists of court 
decisions spread over several centuries. The common law has 
been defined as “that rule of civil conduct which originated in 
the common wisdom and experience of society,” and which 
“in time became an established custom, and has finally received 
judicial sanction and affirmance in the decisions of the courts 
of last resort.” 1 The common law began its development in 
early England, and with the settlement of America was trans¬ 
planted to this country. Though radically modified by Ameri¬ 
can constitutional and statutory enactments it still remains 
the basis of our legal system. 

627. Equity. — Common law tended to become so stereo¬ 
typed and so inflexible that in some cases an application of the 
law worked an injustice. Very early in English history this 
situation gave rise to a new form of jurisprudence called equity. 
Equity is that legal system which supplements common and 
statute law by aiming to secure justice where a strict applica¬ 
tion of law would work an injustice. Equity developed in 
England after the Norman Conquest, and, like the common 
law, was transferred to this country in colonial times. A dis¬ 
tinct set of chancery or equity courts was created to administer 
equity in early America, but at present equity is administered 
by the same judges that preside over the regular state law 

1 W. C. Robinson, quoted in Government and Politics in the United 
States , by W. B. Guitteau, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1920. 

5i9 



5 2 ° 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


courts. Both equitable and legal relief may be secured in one 
suit. 

628. Statutes. — Another important source of law is the 
statutes enacted by the state legislature. Most state laws 
relate to the structure and functions of government, but statu¬ 
tory enactment is also employed to regulate a few branches 
of private law, including principally matters which affect the 
public at large as well as private individuals. Examples are 
laws relating to wills and succession to property, marriage and 
divorce, partnerships, and corporations. 

The scope of the statutes is widening, and during the last 
half century several fields of the common law have been covered 
by statute. Criminal law, criminal procedure, and civil pro¬ 
cedure have been codified in various states. Some states have 
attempted to codify the entire civil law, but experience has 
proved that this may easily render the law too rigid. 

629. Other sources of law. — The state constitution, the 
Federal Constitution, and Federal laws and treaties with foreign 
countries are other sources of state law. 

In summary, the various kinds of law which are enforceable 
in the state courts may be considered as forming a pyramid, 
built upward by the following steps: English common law, 
equity, state statutes, the state constitution, Federal statutes, 
treaties with foreign nations, and the Federal Constitution. 

B. Structure oe the Courts 

630. The justice of the peace. — State courts are arranged 
in a progressive series. At the bottom of this series is the 
justice of the peace, who exercises jurisdiction over petty 
offenses and over civil cases involving very small amounts. 
Generally there is a justice of the peace in each township or 
other local district. In large cities the civil and criminal ju¬ 
risdiction of the justice of the peace is usually divided between 
two sets of courts: first, the municipal or city courts, with 
a minor civil jurisdiction; and second, the police or magis¬ 
trates’ courts with jurisdiction over petty criminal offenses. 


THE STATE COURTS 


521 


The police or magistrates’ courts have the power to make 
preliminary investigations in case of felonies or serious mis¬ 
demeanors. 

631. The county courts. — Above the justices of the peace 
there are, in most states, a number of county courts, .exer¬ 
cising limited jurisdiction. These courts, sometimes called 
courts of common pleas or district courts, have jurisdiction 
over civil cases involving considerable sums, as well as juris¬ 
diction over most criminal offenses. In addition these courts 
usually consider appeals from the judgments of justices of 
the peace. 

632. Superior or circuit courts. —- In many states there 
is a superior, circuit, or district court immediately above the 
county courts, though in some states this tribunal takes the 
place of the county courts. The superior court has jurisdic¬ 
tion over civil cases involving unlimited sums, as well as un¬ 
limited original jurisdiction over criminal matters. It may also 
try all cases over which the lower courts have no jurisdiction. 

633. The supreme court. — At the head of the state judicial 
system there is a court of last resort, known in various states 
by different names. It may be called the court of appeals, 
the court of errors and appeals, or simply the supreme court. 
Practically all of the cases coming before this court are appealed 
from the lower courts. Ordinarily it deals with points of law 
rather than of fact. 

634. Special courts. — In addition to the regular state 
courts there are sometimes special tribunals for special purposes. 
Examples of such courts are the probate or surrogates’ courts 
for the settlement of the estates of deceased persons; children’s 
courts for the treatment of cases involving children; courts 
of domestic relations; and courts of claims for hearing claims 
against the state. 

635. State judges. — In almost all of the states judges are 
chosen by popular vote, though in half a dozen states the 
choice of these officials still lies with the legislature or with the 
Governor, or with both acting jointly. Judges of the higher 
state courts are generally chosen for a long period of time, 


5 22 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


even for life, while the judges of the lower courts are chosen 
for relatively short periods. Salaries vary from practically 
nothing but fee money for some justices of the peace to an 
average of $7000 a year for justices of the supreme court. 
The qualifications imposed upon judges include a minimum 
age of 25 to 35 years, and citizenship for a varying period of 
years. Another common requirement is residence within the 
state, or even residence within the judicial district. For judges 
of the higher courts it is the custom to demand membership 
in the legal profession. Judges may be removed by impeach¬ 
ment, and, in a few states, by use of the Recall. 

636. Other court officials. — The district or prosecuting 
attorney is an important official. Generally he is chosen by 
the voters of the county, though in some instances he is elected 
from larger areas. The district attorney represents the state 
in all criminal cases, and conducts the prosecution. This officer 
conducts a preliminary investigation into crimes and determines 
whether or not a prosecution should be instituted. If the 
decision is in the affirmative, he presents the case to the grand 
jury. If the grand jury returns an indictment, that is, if it 
demands that the accused be held for trial, the prosecuting 
attorney conducts the prosecution at the ensuing trial. 

The clerk, or recording officer, is generally appointed by the 
court, though he may be elected by popular vote. The con¬ 
stable or sheriff is elected by popular vote. The clerk and the 
constable are charged with the execution of all orders, judg¬ 
ments, and decrees of the court. 

C. Powers and Procedure 

637. Relation of state to Federal courts. —The framework 
of American government includes a dual system of courts, 
the Federal courts and the state courts. The jurisdiction of 
the Federal courts is specifically defined by the Federal Con¬ 
stitution, while the state courts have a jurisdiction which is 
limited only by the prohibitions of the state and Federal Consti¬ 
tutions. The two systems of courts are independent in the 
exercise of their respective powers, and have separate jurisdic- 


THE STATE COURTS 


523 


tions. In some cases, however, the state courts have a concur¬ 
rent jurisdiction with the Federal courts, and a litigant has a 
choice of tribunals before which to bring suit. In most suits the 
decision of the state supreme court is final, but cases involving 
Federal law may be appealed for final decision to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

638. Power to declare state statutes unconstitutional. — 

Just as the Federal courts are the final interpreters of all do¬ 
mestic law, so the state courts have the power to pass upon 
the constitutionality of statutes enacted either by the state 
legislature or by local law-making bodies. The state consti¬ 
tution is the fundamental law of the state, and it is the duty 
of the state courts to see that all state and local legislative 
acts conform to this fundamental law. 

639. Power over executive officials. — Through their power 
to pass upon the legality of executive acts, the state courts 
exercise some degree of control over executive officials. If a 
state governor were illegally to remove an official from office, 
for example, the courts could reinstate the latter. 

The state courts also have the power to issue writs of man¬ 
damus and injunction. The former may be used, under certain 
circumstances, to compel an executive officer to perform his 
duty; the latter writ may be used to prevent either state 
officials or private individuals from committing illegal acts. 

640. Civil jurisdiction. — The jurisdiction of the state courts 
is either civil or criminal. 

The purpose of civil law is to protect the rights of the indi¬ 
vidual and to redress his wrongs. The individual rights which 
are the concern of civil law fall under three heads: First, the 
right of personal security, including the right of protection 
against violence; second, the right of personal liberty, including 
the rights set forth in the bill of rights of the state constitution; 
third, the rights of property, including the right to acquire 
and hold property, and the right to demand fulfilment of con¬ 
tracts made under state law. 

641. Civil procedure. — If an individual believes that his 
rights have been violated, he, as plaintiff, is entitled to file 


5 2 4 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


a complaint with the proper court. The sheriff or constable 
then summons the defendant to appear in court, and the clerk 
of the court issues a summons or subpoena to all witnesses 
which either party to the suit desires to have testify. Generally 
either party may demand a trial by jury. Both plaintiff and 
defendant are ordinarily represented by counsel which present 
the different sides of the case to the judge and jury. The 
judge decides what evidence may be properly presented to the 
jury. After the closing argument of the plaintiff’s counsel, 
the judge instructs the jury on the legal points involved in the 
case. The jury then retire and attempt to reach an unani¬ 
mous decision. If able so to agree, they return a verdict for 
either plaintiff or defendant, and after the verdict has been 
accepted by the court, judgment is rendered. If the jurors 
have been unable to come to an unanimous decision, the case 
is ordinarily tried with another jury, though in a few states 
an unanimous verdict in civil cases is not required. 

If the decision of the court is accepted as final, the judgment 
is enforced. On the other hand, the dissatisfied party may 
appeal the case to the next higher court on the ground that the 
verdict was contrary to the weight of evidence, or because of 
errors of law committed by the judge. Under certain circum¬ 
stances the judge who tries the case may be induced to grant 
a new trial. 

642. Criminal jurisdiction. — The purpose of criminal law 
is to punish those who have committed public wrongs, i.e. 
wrongs against the state or community. Crimes are of two 
types: first, felonies, including such grave offences as murder, 
arson, burglary, and larceny; and second, misdemeanors, 
including such lesser offenses as bribery, knowingly receiving 
stolen goods, libel, assault and battery, and disturbance of 
the peace. Usually felonies are punished either by death, or 
by a long prison sentence. Misdemeanors are ordinarily pun¬ 
ished by fines or by imprisonment for a short term. 

643. Criminal procedure. — A criminal proceeding usually 
begins with the arrest of the accused person. Generally, though 
not always, arrest is in pursuance of a warrant. As soon after 


THE STATE COURTS 


525 


arrest as possible, the accused is brought before a magistrate 
for a preliminary examination. If the examining magistrate 
finds that there is probable cause for holding him for trial, the 
accused is committed to jail to await trial. Unless the charge 
is murder, however, the defendant may be released on bail. 

If the charge is a serious one, indictment by the grand jury 
is the next step. If this jury decides that the evidence is in¬ 
sufficient, the charge is dismissed and the prisoner released. 
The grand jury meets in secret, and hears only the charges 
against the accused. These are generally presented by the 
prosecuting attorney. After the defendant is indicted, the 
prisoner is brought into court and allowed to plead. If he 
pleads guilty the judge may forthwith impose sentence and 
there is no trial. If the plea is “not guilty,” a trial is arranged, 
a jury of twelve men impanelled, and the trial begins. 

The case is opened by the prosecuting attorney, since it is 
the duty of the state to assume the defendant innocent until 
he is proved guilty. The prosecuting attorney presents his 
witnesses, each of which the defendant’s attorney may cross- 
examine, and in turn allows the defendant’s attorney to present 
the defense. The prisoner is not questioned at any stage in 
the trial, unless he is willing to take the stand as a witness in 
his own behalf. 

After the prosecuting attorney and the defendant’s counsel 
have completed their case, the judge sums up the evidence 
brought out by each side, and instructs the jury as to the law 
involved. The jury then retire and attempt to reach a verdict. 
Generally such a verdict must be unanimous, and if this can¬ 
not be secured, the jury is dismissed and the case is held for 
re-trial. If the verdict is “not guilty,” the prisoner is dis¬ 
charged; if lie is found guilty, sentence is imposed by the court, 
either immediately or at some future date. 1 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is meant by the term “common law”? 

2. Define equity. How did it arise? 

1 For a discussion of the legal aspects of the problem of crime, see 
Chapter XXI. 


526 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


3. What is the importance of the statutes as a source of state law? 

4. What are some other sources of law? 

5. Describe the work of the justice of the peace. 

6. What is the jurisdiction of the county courts? 

7. What is the chief function of the state supreme court? 

8. Name some special state courts. 

9. What is the function of the district attorney? 

10. What is the relation of state to Federal courts? 

11. Discuss the chief powers of state courts. 

12. What is the scope of the civil jurisdiction of the state courts? 

13. Describe a civil trial. 

14. What are the two types of crimes? 

15. Outline the steps in a criminal trial. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xxvi. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter xi. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter xxxiv. 

4. Reed, Form and Function of American Government, chapter xiii. 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Define common law. (Guitteau, page 115.) 

2. What is the relation of the old Privy Council to the origin of 

English common law? (Guitteau, page 116.) 

3. What is a tort? (Beard, pages 558-559.) 

4. What is the relation of the state judiciary to the other depart¬ 

ments of state government? (Reed, page 160.) 

5. To what extent do the Federal courts interfere with the .decisions 

of the state courts? (Munro, page 492.) 

6. By what three methods may judges be chosen? (Beard, page 550.) 

7. Name some states in which judges are not chosen by the people. 

How are judges chosen in these states? (Beard, page 550.) 

8. Compare the salaries of American judges with the salaries of 

European judges. (Beard, page 552.) 

9. By what three methods may judges be removed? (Munro, pages 

496-497.) 

10. In what state has the codification of the civil code been most 
successful? (Reed, page 168.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 

1 

1. Provisions in your state constitution with respect to the state 

judiciary. 

2. The choice of judges in your state. 


THE STATE COURTS 


527 


3. Characteristics of a good judge. 

4. The actual conduct of a civil or criminal trial in a near-by court. 

5. Delay in legal procedure in your, state. (Consult a friendly 

attorney.) 

6. Methods of removing judges in your state. 

11 

7. The evolution of state justice. (Gettell, Readings in Political 

Science, page 384.) 

8 . Function of the state court. (Gettell, Readings in Political Science, 

page 387.) 

9. Methods of choosing judges in the various states. (Gettell, 

Readings in Political Science, page 388.) 

10. Procedure in the state courts. (Kimball, State and Municipal 

Government in the United States, chapter xv.) 

11. The system of appeals in state courts. (Reinsch, Readings on 

American State Government, pages 150-158.) 

12. Politics and the state courts. (Reinsch, Readings on American 

State Government, pages 158-168.) 

13. Defects in the enforcement of law. (Reinsch, Readings on Ameri¬ 

can State Government, pages 173-180.) 

14. Relation of judicial inefficiency to crime. (Reinsch, Readings on 

American State Government, pages 181-198.) 

15. Legal claims against the state. (Reinch, Readings on American State 

Government, pages 168-172.) 

16. Necessity of judicial independence. (Gettell, Readings in Po¬ 

litical Science, page 391.) 

17. The significance of lawyers in the United States. (Gettell, Read¬ 

ings in Political Science, page 390.) 

18. A summary of the defects of the State judiciary. (Bryce, The 

American Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter xlii.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

19. Should a jury sitting in a criminal trial be required to render an 

unanimous verdict or simply a majority decision? 

20. Should state judges be chosen directly by the people, or selected 

by the state legislature, or appointed by the Governor? 

21. Should judges be subject to the Recall? 

22. Should the entire civil law of your state be codified? 

23. Advantages and disadvantages of separate administrative courts. 

(See Gettell, Readings in Political Science, pages 392-393.) 


CHAPTER LI 


MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 

A. Development oe the American Municipality 1 

644. Rapid growth of American cities. — A striking feature 
of American life is the rapidity with which our cities have grown. 
At the time of Washington’s first inauguration, the United 
States were so predominantly rural that only about one thirtieth 
of our population was found in the cities. With the progress of 
the Industrial Revolution came an unprecedented development 
of transportation and the factory system. More and more 
people made their homes in the cities, until in 1890 approx¬ 
imately a third of the people of the United States were living 
in cities. According to the census of 1920 more than half of 
our population is concentrated in towns and cities. 

645. The American city before the Revolution. — New York, 
now the largest American city, is also the oldest, having re¬ 
ceived its charter in 1686. Between that date and the outbreak 
of the Revolution, nineteen other municipalities received char¬ 
ters. The colonial cities modelled their organization after the 
English borough. Practically all authority was vested in a 
council, consisting of a mayor, recorder, aldermen, and council- 
men, acting as a single body. The mayor was either appointed 
by the Governor, or elected by the council. The chief duty of 
the mayor was to preside over the council and execute its 
ordinances. 

646. The American city, 1775-1825. — Several important 
changes in the character of the American city took place in the 
half century which followed the Declaration of Independence. 

1 For an extended account of American municipal development, 
see Fairlie’s Municipal Administration . 

An excellent summary of Fairlie is found in Guitteau’s Government 
and Politics in the United States , Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1920. 

S28 


MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 


529 


The power to grant charters to cities was transferred from the 
Governor to the state legislature. This was the natural out¬ 
come of an increasing suspicion of the executive authority, and 
a corresponding increase of faith in the state legislature. Before 
the end of this period the city came definitely under the control 
of the state legislature. In the absence of constitutional re¬ 
strictions, the legislature has continued to exercise an almost 
dictatorial control over the cities within its borders. 

Also typical of this period was the subordination of city 
affairs to state and national politics. 

647. The American city, 1825-1850. — During this period a 
number of new cities sprang into prominence. Immigration 
was increasing, and the industrialization of the country was 
crowding the population into larger and larger units. 

New York, Boston, St. Louis, and other cities adopted the 
two-chambered-council plan. 

The passion for democratic control swept away the property 
qualifications prescribed by some of the early city charters, 
and practically attained universal manhood suffrage. The 
demand for popular control likewise led to the present practice 
of choosing the mayor by popular vote, the older methods of 
State appointment or council election being discarded. 

648. The American city, 1850-1875. — Many pressing mu¬ 
nicipal problems appeared in this period. The functions of the 
American city became more numerous and more complex. 
Police and fire systems were installed; waterworks, sewer 
systems, and city parks were provided; education and chari¬ 
table relief were developed. 

Under the stress of administering these additional functions, 
cities applied more and more frequently to the state legislature 
for special legislation granting them additional powers. State 
legislatures tended to pass such special acts freely, with the 
result that corrupt and pernicious legislation became common 
in many states. Special interests engaged in lobbying, bribery, 
and log-rolling to secure special favors from legislatures. Public 
service corporations often secured valuable franchises on terms 
that did not adequately protect the public interest. 


530 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


649 . Municipal reform. — The period since 1875 and espe¬ 
cially since 1900 has been marked by a strong tendency to reform 
municipal government. 

The abuse of power by the city council in many instances 
forfeited the respect with which the public had formerly regarded 
that body. The power to appoint various city officials 
was transferred from the council to the voters, and many of 
the functions formerly exercised by the council were entrusted 
to newly created municipal boards. 

In about half the states constitutional provisions now for¬ 
bid the legislature to pass special acts concerning municipalities. 
In other states the constitution enumerates a large number of 
subjects with regard to which the legislature cannot enact 
special legislation. In some states the cities of the state are 
classified into two or more groups, according to population; 
the legislature is compelled to designate the group or groups 
to which statutes are to apply. In about a dozen states certain 
types of cities are allowed to frame and amend their own char¬ 
ters, provided that such acts are not inconsistent with the 
constitution and statutes of the state. 

Municipal civil service reform is of increasing importance, 
more than 200 American cities having sanctioned it in some 
form. As applied to municipal affairs the merit system includes 
a municipal commission, appointed by the mayor; a system of 
competitive examinations designed to test character and capac¬ 
ity; a plan for requiring the appointing officer in each depart¬ 
ment of city government to select his subordinates from an 
eligible list; a method of removing officials; and sometimes a 
system of pensioning employees who have grown old in the 
service. 

The movement for popular control has been closely associated 
with municipal development. The tendency to shorten the 
ballot, the holding of municipal elections at a different time 
than state and national elections, and the concentration of 
administrative officers under a responsible appointing head, 
are steps in this direction. In many states the Direct Primary 
has been intimately associated with municipal development. 


MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 


531 


The Initiative, Referendum, and Recall have been adopted in a 
large number of cities, especially where the mayor-council plan 
has been abandoned for the commission form of government. 

B. Municipal Organization 

650. The three types of city government. — The three types 
of city government in the United States are the mayor-council 
plan, the commission plan, and the city manager plan. 1 The 
commission plan is a new form of city government which has 
been designed to overcome the defects of the old mayor-council 
plan, while the city manager plan is a modification of the com¬ 
mission plan. Of recent years both the commission plan and 
the city manager plan have spread rapidly, but it is still true 
that few American cities of any appreciable size have adopted 
either of these two plans. The old mayor-council plan prevails 
in most American cities, and for this reason the remainder of 
this chapter will be devoted to a description of this form of 
government. 

651. The city council: organization.—Usually the city 
council is a single-chambered body, though some of the larger 
cities have from time to time experimented with a double- 
chambered council. In some cities councilmen are chosen on 
a general ticket, but in most cases the council consists of one 
member from each ward or district into which the city is divided. 
Councilmen must be voters in the city in which they serve, and 
by custom they are generally required to be residents of the 
ward from which they are chosen. The terms of councilmen 
vary from one to four years, two years being the average 
term. In the smaller cities councilmen are usually unpaid, 
but in the larger municipalities they receive a stated salary. 

652. The city council: powers. — The typical American 
city is subservient to the state legislature, the powers of city 
government being enumerated in a charter received from the 
legislature. These enumerated powers have been rather nar¬ 
rowly interpreted by the courts. 

1 For a description of the commission and city manager plans of 
city government, see Chapter XXXVI. 


532 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

The council enjoys a measure of police power, which it may 
invoke to protect the health and to further the well-being of 
the city’s inhabitants. The exercise of this police power, how¬ 
ever, must not conflict with state law. 

The council has the power to levy taxes to defray expenses 
incurred in performing municipal functions. State consti¬ 
tutions and legislatures limit this power rather narrowly, how¬ 
ever. Subject to a similar limitation is the council’s power to 
raise money through the issue of bonds. 

City councils may act as the agents of the state government 
in matters affecting education and charitable relief. 

653 . The city council: procedure. —The city council meets 
periodically, generally weekly or bi-weekly. It determines its 
own rules of procedure and keeps a journal. The committee 
system is used for the dispatch of business. Ordinances may 
be proposed by any member of the council. After being intro¬ 
duced, ordinances are read by title and are referred to the proper 
committee. A second and third reading at subsequent meet¬ 
ings are required. If the ordinance is approved by a majority 
of the council, it is signed by the presiding officer, and sent to 
the mayor. In many cities the mayor may veto any ordinance 
passed by the council. In case of a veto the measure becomes 
law only if passed by a two thirds — in some cities three fourths 
or four fifths — vote of the council. In those cities where the 
mayor has no veto power, the ordinance goes into effect imme¬ 
diately upon being passed by the council. 

654 . The mayor. — In all cities where the mayor-council 
plan of government prevails, the chief executive officer is the 
mayor or chief magistrate. This officer is usually elected by 
popular vote, for a term varying from one to four years. Usually 
the term is two years, though in New England a one-year 
term is more common. The mayor is paid a salary which ranges 
from a few hundred dollars in the smaller cities to several 
thousands of dollars in a number of the larger municipalities. 

655 . The mayor and the council. — It is the duty of the 
mayor to communicate at least once a year to the city council 
a general statement of the administration and financial condi- 


MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 


533 


tion of the city. The mayor may also recommend to the city 
council, in his annual message or otherwise, the passage of 
ordinances which he considers needful. In smaller cities, and 
in a few of the larger municipalities, the mayor presides over 
the council and has a casting vote in case of a tie, but in most 
of the larger cities he is not a member of the council. In most 
cities he has the veto power. In many of the more recent city 
charters, the mayor is given the power to veto separate items 
in an appropriation bill, while approving the remainder of the 
measure, just as some Governors may veto separate items in 
appropriations bills enacted by the state legislature. 

656 . Administrative duties of the mayor. — The mayor 
stands at the head of the city administration, but the extent 
of his control varies from city to city. In the last half century 
the decline in popular favor of the city council has been accom¬ 
panied by a growing tendency to enlarge the administrative 
powers of the mayor. In many of the smaller cities the mayor 
is still little more than a presiding officer of the council. In such 
cities subordinate executive officials are usually chosen by pop¬ 
ular vote or are appointed by the council. In other cities the 
mayor may appoint the chief administrative officials, subject to 
the consent of the council. In still other cities, including many 
of the larger municipalities, the mayor may both appoint and 
remove the heads of the executive departments, without inter¬ 
ference on the part of the council. 

657 . Other administrative officials. — Such highly complex 
and important matters as health, education, parks, charities, 
police, fire protection, and public works are the concern of the 
numerous administrative officials of the city. Administrative 
work is carried on by two methods, first, the board system, in 
which such concerns as schools, public health, and police are 
managed by boards composed of members of the city council; 
and second, single commissioners, who are more or less under 
the control of the mayor. The board system has proved less 
efficient than the single commissioner plan, and accordingly 
there is a tendency to abandon the former for the latter plan. 


534 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Questions on the Text 

1. Describe the rapid growth of the American city. 

2. What were the characteristics of the city in colonial times? 

3. What were the distinguishing features of the American city be¬ 

tween 1775 and 1825? 

4. What distinguishes municipal development between 1825 and 1850? 

5. What problems became prominent in municipal development be¬ 

tween 1850 and 1875? 

6. Outline the movement for municipal reform. 

7. What are the three types of municipal government? 

8. Describe the organization of the city council. 

9. What are the chief powers of the city council? 

10. Outline the making of an ordinance. 

11. Discuss the term and salary of the mayor. 

12. What is the relation of the mayor to the council? 

13. What are the chief administrative duties of the mayor? 

14. Name some other administrative officers. 

Required Readings 

1. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xxvii. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter iv. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter xlii. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xvi 

Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Define a city. (Guitteau, page 38.) 

2. What is the English prototype of the American city? (Guitteau, 

page 39-) 

3. Under what three heads may the powers of the mayor be grouped? 

(Beard, page 591.) 

4. To what extent has the city council been shorn of its power? 

(Beard, pages 588-590.) 

5. What is the meaning of the phrase “municipal home rule”? (Guit¬ 

teau, page 45.) 

6. What is meant by municipal democracy? (Beard, pages 597-598.) 

7. What is the Des Moines plan of city government? (Guitteau, 

page 46.) 

8. Describe briefly the organization of the government of New York. 

(Reed, pages 197-198.) 

9. Summarize the functions of the American municipality. (Munro, 

pages 602-615.) 

10. What is the extent of municipal ownership in the United States? 
(Munro, page 616.) 


MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 


535 


Topics for Investigation and Report 

i 

1. History of your municipality. 

2. Present organization of your municipal government. 

3. The chief functions of your municipality. 

4. Relation of your municipality to the state legislature. 

5. Legislative power in your municipality. 

6. The franchise-granting power in your municipality. 

n 

7. The English borough. (Fairlie, Municipal Administration, chap¬ 

ter iv.) 

8. Historical development of the American city. (Munro, The 

Government of the United States, chapter xl; Kimball, State 
and Municipal Government in the United States, chapter xx.) 

9. Political consequences of city growth. (Gettell, Readings in 

Political Science, page 433.) 

10. Relation of city life to democracy. (Gettell, Readings in Po¬ 

litical Science, page 436.) 

11. Evolution of municipal organization. (Munro, The Government 

of American Cities, chapter i.) 

12. Relation of the municipality to the state. (Munro, The Govern¬ 

ment of American Cities, chapter ii.) 

13. The voters of the city. (Munro, The Government of American 

Cities, chapter iii.) 

14. The mayor. (Munro, The Government of American Cities, chap¬ 

ter ix; Fairlie, Municipal Administration, chapter xix.) 

15. The city council. (Munro, The Government of American Cities, 

chapter viii; Fairlie, Municipal Administration, chapter xvii.) 

16. Municipal administrative offices. (Munro, The Government of 

American Cities, chapter x; Fairlie, Municipal Administration, 
chapter xviii.) 

17. The needs of city government. (Gettell, Readings in Political 

Science, pages 441-442.) 

18. The municipal government in action. (Bryce, The American ' 

Commonwealth, vol. i, chapter li.) 

19. Municipal functions. (Munro, The Government of the United 

States, chapter xlii; James, Local Government in the United 
States, chapter vii.) 

20. Municipal finances. (Beard, American City Government, chap¬ 

ter v.) 

21. The franchise problem. (Beard, American City Government, chap¬ 

ter vii.) 


536 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


22. Municipal ownership as a political problem. (Beard, American 

City Government , chapter viii.) 

23. The commission plan of municipal government. (Munro, The 

Government of the United States, chapter xliii; see also any other 
standard text on American government.) 

24. The city manager plan of municipal government. (Munro, The 

Government of the United States, chapter xliii; see also any 
other standard text on American government.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

25. Municipal ownership of public utilities in your community. 

26. Are the municipalities of your state too narrowly restricted by 

the state constitution and the state legislature? 

27. The solution of the franchise problem. 

28. Respective merits of the mayor-council plan, the commission 

plan, and the city manager plan, with particular reference to 
your municipality. 


CHAPTER LII 


RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

658 . Types of rural local government. — Rural local govern¬ 
ments in the United States vary widely as between different 
sections of the country, but in general they are divisible into 
three types. These are: ( a) the town type, so common in 
New England; ( b ) the county type, found chiefly in the South, 
the Southwest, and the Far West; and (c) the mixed type of the 
Middle, Central, and Northwestern states. These three general 
types will be discussed in the order named. 

A. The Town Type 

659 . Nature of the town. — The basis of rural local govern¬ 
ment in New England is the town . 1 In general the New Eng¬ 
land town is an irregularly shaped area, varying in size from 
twenty to forty-five square miles. The area comprising the 
typical town is primarily rural, and generally contains one or 
more villages. Although the town is primarily a rural unit, 
the villages within its bounds may be so populous as to be 
classed as cities. Yet these populous communities may, as 
in the case of Brookline, Massachusetts, retain the town govern¬ 
ment. Other New England cities, such as New Haven and 
Hartford, Connecticut, have continued the town organization 
separate from the city government. 

660 . Origin of the town. — Some authorities believe that 
the town type of rural local government can be traced back 
through English history to the early Teutonic tribes. Whether 

1 The county exists in New England as an aggregation of towns. 
The county has acquired other functions, but it is still primarily a 
judicial district. 


537 


538 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


or not this is true, it is certain that the principle is an ancient 
one, and that when New England was first settled, the colonists 
grouped together in small compact communities, or towns, 
instead of scattering over larger areas. 

661 . Why town government developed in New England. 
— Several factors are responsible for the tendency of the settlers 
of early New England to draw together in towns. From the 
economic point of view, the barren nature of the soil rendered 
extensive farms impracticable, while, on the other hand, the 
opportunities for fishing and commerce encouraged small, 
compact settlements along the coast. The hostility of many 
of the New England Indians also discouraged sparse settle¬ 
ments and obliged the people to settle in close formation. 
Lastly, many of the New England colonists came to the New 
World as groups or communities which in their European homes 
had pivoted about a common church; in New England these 
people naturally preferred to live very near one another. 

662 . Town government. — The government of the New 
England town is vested in a town meeting, which consists of 
an annual session of the voters of the town. At this meeting 
the voters enact laws governing such local matters as town 
finance, schools, police, and highways. A second important 
function of the town meeting is to choose the town officers, 
including the selectmen , 1 the town clerk, treasurer, constable, 
and others. The chief executive officers are the selectmen, 
varying in number from three to nine, and generally chosen 
for the term of one year. The selectmen have general charge 
of town affairs, and act under authority conferred by statute 
or by the town meeting. The town clerk keeps the records, 
the treasurer has charge of the funds of the town and some¬ 
times audits accounts, while the constable keeps the peace of 
the town, serves writs, and collects local taxes. In addition 
there are a number of minor officials, such as tax assessors, 
pound-keepers, guardians of the poor, highway officials, and 
library trustees. 


1 In Rhode Island the selectmen are known as the council. 


RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT 


539 


B. The County Type 

663 . Why county government developed in the South. 

— The system of county government became as firmly in¬ 
trenched in the Southern colonies as did the concept of the 
town in early New England. Four factors operated to dis¬ 
courage town government, and to encourage county govern¬ 
ment, in the South. First, the Southern colonists did not come 
in small family groups, as did the New Englanders, but rather 
as individuals and from different classes of society. Second, 
the Indians of the South were either weak or peaceful, so that 
fear of Indian attack did not oblige the colonists to congregate 
in small, compact communities. Third, the climate and soil 
of the South encouraged a plantation system which resulted 
in a sparse rather than in a compact population. Fourth, the 
aristocratic type of society developing from the plantation 
and slave system prevented the rise of the democratic town 
meeting. 

664 . Government of the Southern county. — Though county 
government is also found in the Southwest and Far West, it 
is seen in its purest form in the South. Here the county was 
originally a judicial district, or sometimes also a financial dis¬ 
trict to facilitate the collection of taxes. The functions of the 
county have gradually increased until such local affairs as 
schools, jails, poorhouses, and the maintenance of roads and 
bridges are concerns of the Southern county. The chief admin¬ 
istrative authority in the county is either the county court, 
or a small board of commissioners. In either case the admin¬ 
istrative authority is chosen by popular vote. In addition 
there are a number of minor officers such as the treasurer, tax 
assessor, and recorder, all of them chosen by popular vote for 
terms varying from one to four years. 

665 . Government of the Far Western county. — In the 
Far West, likewise, the most important unit of rural local gov¬ 
ernment is the county. The county is governed by a board, 
usually consisting of three commissioners. In general the 
officers of the Far Western county resemble those in the central 
states. (See Section 644.) 


540 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


C. The Mixed Type 1 

666 . Origin of the mixed type. — The mixed type of rural 
local government is a hybrid, the result of the incomplete 
fusion of the town type with the county type. The northern 
parts of the Central states were settled largely by immigrants 
from New England, while the southern portions of the Mid¬ 
dle West were settled by pioneers from Pennsylvania and 
the states south of the Ohio River. The New England immi¬ 
grants were used to town government, and endeavored to 
perpetuate it in their new home; the settlers from the South 
preferred the county form of government, and sought its adop¬ 
tion in their new homes. The result was a compromise, some 
functions of rural local government being assigned to the county 
and some to the township. 

667 . The two sub-types. — In the fusion of the town and 
county types of government the county system tended to pre¬ 
dominate over the town or township form of government 
when settlers from the South were in the majority. In the 
northern section of the country, on the other hand, the com¬ 
promise form tended to include a majority of the features of 
the town type. The result was the formulation of two sub-types. 

The first of these may be called the Pennsylvania sub-type, 
so named because it originated in Pennsylvania, and then spread, 
with modifications, to Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and 
other states. In these states the town or township authority 
is subordinated to the county government. There is no town 
meeting. 

The New York sub-type exists in typical form in New York, 
but is also found in New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, the Dakotas, and other states. The town meeting 
is found in these states, and in five of them the townships 
are represented on the county board. 

668 . The New York sub-type.—In states possessing the 
New York sub-type of rural local government, the town meeting 
is still important. This meeting is similar to the New England 

1 Sometimes called the township-county system. 


RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT 


541 


town meeting, though it exercises less authority. All the legal 
voters of the township are qualified to take part in this meeting, 
which is held annually and on special occasions. At this meeting 
are chosen township officers for the following year. The most 
important of these are the supervisor, clerk, treasurer, assessor, 
and a varying number of constables and justices of the peace. 
In addition to electing these and other officers, the town meet¬ 
ing enacts legislation with regard to such local matters as 
bridges, roads, and schools. 

In some of the Central states general executive authority 
over township affairs is vested in a township board, while in 
other states administrative authority is divided between a 
township board of from three to eleven members, and a super¬ 
visor or trustee. Besides these officials, there are a number of 
minor officers, including a clerk, a treasurer, an assessor, over¬ 
seers of the poor, constables, and justices of the peace. 

The county board continues to exist under the New York 
plan, but it is far less important than under the Pennsylvania 
sub-type. The functions of the county board are similar in 
these two sub-types. 

669 . The Pennsylvania sub-type. —In those states in which 
the Pennsylvania sub-type of rural local government prevails, 
general control of government is vested in a county board. 
This board is composed of three commissioners, who are elected 
by the voters of the county. In all of the Central states the 
county board possesses numerous powers, but the powers of 
the board are greater under the Pennsylvania than under the 
New York sub-type. Under the former plan the county board 
exercised four groups of powers: First, the levying of taxes 
and the appropriation of local funds; second, the maintenance 
of roads; third, poor-relief; and fourth, the supervision of local 
elections. 

Besides the members of the county board there are a number 
of other county officials. The chief executive officer of the 
county court is the sheriff. The prosecuting attorney is an 
elective official, whose duty it is to conduct criminal prosecu¬ 
tions, and to act as the legal agent of the county. The treasurer 


542 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


has charge of county funds, and sometimes supervises the collec¬ 
tion of taxes. He is elected by the people, generally for a two- 
year term. The clerk or auditor is an important county officer, 
as is the surveyor, the county superintendent of schools, and 
the recorder or register of deeds. 

670 . Home rule for counties. — Generally, county authorities 
are narrowly limited by the state constitution and state statutes. 
This has always resulted in numerous appeals to the legislature 
for special legislation, and has lately given rise to a demand 
for home rule for counties. In the effort to reduce the pressure 
for special laws in the legislature, the Michigan constitution 
of 1908 provided for a measure of home rule for counties. The 
legislature is authorized to confer legislative powers on the 
county boards, which may pass laws and ordinances relative 
to purely local affairs, provided such enactments do not con¬ 
flict with state law, and provided, further, that such enact¬ 
ments do not interfere with the local affairs of any township, 
incorporated city, or village within the limits of the county. 
Such laws may be vetoed by the Governor, but may be passed 
over his veto by a two-thirds vote of the county board. Another 
step toward home rule was taken when in 1911 California by 
constitutional amendment empowered counties to frame their 
own charters, and, on securing popular approval, to put the 
same into effect. However, the charter thus framed and ap¬ 
proved must first be sanctioned by the state legislature. 


Questions on the Text 

1. What are the three types of rural local government? 

2. Discuss the nature of the town. 

3. What is the origin of the town? 

4. How is the town governed? 

5. Why did county government develop in the rural South? 

6. Outline the government of the southern county. 

7. How did the mixed type of rural local government originate? 

8. What two sub-types are included under the mixed type of rural 

local government? 

9. Compare briefly these two sub-types. 

10. Discuss the nature of the movement to permit home rule to counties. 


RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT 


543 


Required Readings 

r. Beard, American Government and Politics, chapter xxix. 

2. Guitteau, Government and Politics in the United States, chapter ii. 

3. Munro, The Government of the United States, chapter xxxvii. 

4. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, chapter xviii. 


Questions on the Required Readings 

1. Summarize the relation of local institutions to state government. 

(Guitteau, page 15.) 

2. What factors are responsible for the decline of the town meeting 

in the Middle West? (Beard, page 651.) 

3. Describe the early English county. (Guitteau, page 18.) 

4. What are the chief divisions of the county in the southern and 

western parts of the United States? (Reed, pages 222-223.) 

5. What are the sources of county government? (Reed, page 210.) 

6. What is a “town chairman”? (Reed, page 222.) 

7. What are the two types of county boards? (Beard, pages 640-641.) 

8. What is a parish? (Guitteau, page 21.) 

9. Why is there a growing demand that local institutions be placed 

under the supervision of the state government? (Beard, pages 
654-6550 

10. What are the merits and defects of autonomy for rural local gov¬ 
ernments? (Munro, pages 544-545.) 

Topics for Investigation and Report 
1 

1. Origin of local government in your section. 

2. Development of rural local government in your community, or in 

some adjacent community. 

3. The work of the tax assessor in rural local government. 

4. Investigate the powers and duties of any other county, town, 

or township officer. 

n 

5. Origin and development of rural local government in the United 

States. (James, Local Government in the United States, chapter ii; 
Kimball, State and Municipal Government in the United States, 
chapter xvi.) 

6. The New England town. (Fairlie, Local Government in Counties , 

Towns and Villages, pages 141-146.) 

7. Township government. (Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, 

Towns and Villages, pages 164-185.) 


544 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

8. General nature of county government. (Munro, The Government 

of the United States , chapter xxxviii.) 

9. The organization of county government. (James, Local Govern¬ 

ment in the United States, chapter iii; Maxey, County Adminis¬ 
tration.) 

10. Functions of county government. (James, Local Government in 

the United States, chapter iv; Maxey, County Administration.) 

11. Financial administration in counties. (Maxey, County Admin¬ 

istration.) 

12. The administration of highways in counties. (Maxey, County 

A d ministration.) 

13. Charitable and correctional institutions in the county. (Maxey, 

County Administration.) 

14. Politics in rural local government. (Beard, American Government 

and Politics, chapter xxx.) 

15. County home rule. (Gilbertson, The County, chapter xv.) 

16. City and county consolidation. (Maxey, County Administration.) 

17. New developments in county government. (James, Local Gov¬ 

ernment in the United States, chapter viii.) 

18. Rural local government in England. (Reed, Form and Functions 

of American Government, chapter xvii.) 

19. Rural local government in France. (James, Local Government in 

the United States, chapter i.) 

For Classroom Discussion 

20. The relative merits of the town, county, and mixed type of rural 

local government. 

21. The problem of efficiency in rural local government in your state. 

22. The problem of responsibility in rural local government in your 

state. 

23. Should rural local governments in your state be allowed a greater 

measure of home rule? 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


The following list contains all of the references that are mentioned 
in the text, either as required reading, or as the basis for suggested 
topic work. Special mention may be made here of Williamson’s Read¬ 
ings in American Democracy , prepared as a companion volume to the 
text, and published in 1922 by D. C. Heath & Co. 

In harmony with the general arrangement of the text material, the 
references in this list have been grouped under the following heads: Histori¬ 
cal, Economic, Social, and Political. 

An asterisk has been placed before references that should prove of value 
to those who desire to build up a small working library on problems in 
American democracy. Works of special importance are preceded by a 
double asterisk. 

Historical 

Adams, Ephraim D. The Power of Ideals in American History. Yale 
University Press, New Haven. 1913. 

** Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Phil¬ 
adelphia. 

Becker, Carl Lotus. Beginnings of the American People. Houghton 
Mifflin Co., Boston. 1915. 

* Cheyney, Edward P. An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History 

of England. Macmillan, New York. 1901. 

Crawford, Mary Caroline. Social Life in Old New England. Little, Brown 
Co., Boston. 1914. 

* Fiske, John. The Critical Perio d of American History. Houghton Mifflin 

Co., Boston. 1888. 

Hart, Albert Bushnell. Social and Economic Forces in American History. 
Huntington, Ellsworth. Civilization and Climate. Yale University Press, 
New Haven. 1915. 

Huntington, Ellsworth, and S. W. Cushing. Principles of Human Geography. 

John Wiley and Sons, New York. 1921. 

** International Encyclopedia. Second edition. Dodd Mead & Co., New 
York. 1916. 

** Lessons in Community and National Life , Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Education. Series A, B, and C, Government Printing 
Office, Washington, D. C. 1918. 

545 


546 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

McLaughlin, Andrew C. Steps in the Development of American Democracy. 
The Abingdon Press, New York. 1920. 

-. The Confederation and the Constitution. Harper and Bros, New 

York. 1905. 

Osgood, Herbert L. The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century , 
3 vols. Macmillan, New York. 1904. 

Semple, Ellen C. American History and its Geographic Conditions. Houghton 
Mifflin Co., Boston. 1903. 

Speare, Morris E., and W. B. Norris. World War Issues and Ideals. Ginn 
and Co., Boston. 1918. 

** Turner, Frederick J. The Frontier in American History. Henry Holt 
and Co., New York. 1920. 

West, Willis M. The War and the New Age. Allyn and Bacon, Boston. 
1919. 

White, Albert Beebe. The Making of the English Constitution. Putnam, 
New York. 1908. 


Economic 

Adams, Henry C. Description of Industry. Henry Holt & Co., New 
York. 1918. 

Ashley, Percy. Modern Tariff History. Dutton and Co., New York. 1911. 

* Bishop, Avard L., and A. G. Keller. Industry and Trade. Ginn and Co., 

Boston. 1918. 

Bloomfield, Daniel. Selected Articles on Modern Industrial Movements. 
H. W. Wilson Co., New York. 1919. 

-. Selected Articles on Problems of Labor. H. W. Wilson Co., New 

York. 1920. 

** Bogart, Ernest Ludlow. The Economic History of the United States. 

Longmans, Green and Co., New York. 1912. 

Bogart, Ernest Ludlow, and C. M. Thompson. Readings in the Economic 
History of the United States. Longmans, Green and Co., New York. 
1917. 

Brasol, Boris L. Socialism Versus Civilization. Cbas. Scribner’s Sons, 
New York. 1920. 

Brooks, John Graham. American Syndicalism: the I. W. W. Macmillan, 
*New York. 1913. 

Bruce, Philip A. Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century. 

2 Vols. Macmillan, New York. 1907. 

Bullock,.Charles J. Selected Readings in Economics. Ginn and Co., Boston. 
1907. 

-. Selected Readings in Public Finance. 2d edition. Ginn and Co., 

Boston. 1920. 

• -. The Elements of Economics. Silver, Burdett and Co., Boston. 1919. 






BIBLIOGRAPHY 


547 


Burritt, Arthur W., assisted by Dennison, Gay and others. Profit Sharing , 
its Principles and Practice. Harper and Bros., New York. 1918. 

Callender, Guy S. Selections from the Economic History of the United 
States. Ginn and Co., Boston. 1909. 

* Carlton, Frank T. History and Problems of Organized Labor. D. C. Heath 
and Co., Boston. 1911. 

-. Organized Labor in American History. Appleton, New York. 1920. 

** Carver, Thomas Nixon. Elementary Economics. Ginn and Co., Boston. 
1920. 

— -. Essays in Social Justice. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 

Mass. 1915. 

-. Principles of Rural Economics. Ginn and Co., Boston. 1911. 

Clark, John Bates. Social Justice Without Socialism. Houghton Mifflin 
Co., Boston. 1914. 

** Coman, Katharine. The Industrial History of the United States. Mac¬ 
millan, New York. 1917. 

Commons, John R. Trade Unionism and Labor Problems. Ginn and Co., 
Boston. 1905. 

Coulter, John L. Cooperation Among Farmers. Sturgis and Walton, 
New York. 1919. 

Current History Magazine, September, 1920. New York Times, New York. 

Dewey, Davis R. Financial History of the United States. Longmans, 
Green and Co., New York. 1915. 

Dixon, Frank H., and J. H. Parmelee. War Administration of the Railways 
in the United States and Great Britain. Oxford University Press. Car¬ 
negie Endowment for International Peace. 

** Dryer, Charles R. Elementary Economic Geography. American Book 
Co., New York. 1916. 

Dunbar, Charles F. The Theory and History of Banking. 3d edition. 
Putnam, New York. 1917. 

Durand, Edward D. The Trust Problem. Harvard University Press, 
Cambridge. 1915. 

Edie, Lionel D. Current Social a'nd Industrial Forces. Boni and Liveright, 
New York. 1920. 

** Ely, Richard T. Outlines of Economics. Macmillan, New York. 1918. 

— ■ Socialism, an Examination of its Nature, its Strength and its Weak¬ 
ness. Crowell, Boston. 1895. 

Fanning, C. E. Selected Articles on the Conservation of Natural Resources. 
Debaters’ Handbook Series. H. W. Wilson Co., Minneapolis. 1913. 

Fay, C. R. Cooperation at Home and Abroad. Macmillan, New York. 1910. 

** Fetter, Frank A. Modern Economic Problems. Century Co., New 
York. 1917. 

Fiske, Amos K. The Modern Bank. Appleton, New York. 1914. 

Ford, James. Cooperation in New England. New York. 1913. 






548 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


* George, Henry. Progress and Poverty. Doubleday, Page and Co., 

New York. 1916. 

Groat, George G. An Introduction the Study of Organized Labor in America. 
Macmillan, New York. 1919. 

Hamilton, Walton H. Current Economic Problems. University of Chicago 
Press, Chicago. 1915. 

Hammond, John Hays, and J. W. Jenks. Great American Issues, Chas. 
Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1921. 

Harris, Emerson P. Cooperation, the Hope of the Consumer. Macmillan. 
New York. 1918. 

Hayward, William R. Money, What it is, and How to Use It. Houghton 
Mifflin Co., Boston. 1917. 

Hearings before a sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary. U.S. Senate. 

Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 

Hinds, William A. American Communities. 2d revision. Kerr and Co., 
Chicago. 1908. 

Hobson, John A. The Evolution of Modern Capitalism. New and revised 
edition. London. 1912. 

Hoxie, Robert F. Scientific Management and Labor. Appleton, New York. 

1915- 

-. Trade Unionism in the United States. Appleton, New York. 1920. 

* I. W. W. Constitution. Chicago. 1905. 

* Johnson, Emory R. American Railway Transportation. Appleton, 

New York. 1912. 

Kemmerer, Edwin W. The A B C of the Federal Reserve System. Prince¬ 
ton University Press, Princeton, N. J. 1920. 

King, Clyde L. Lower Living Costs in Cities. Appleton, New York. 1915. 

* -. The Regulation of Municipal Utilities. Appleton, New York. 1914. 

* King, Willford Isbell. The Wealth and Income of the People of the United 

States. Macmillan, New York. 1919. 

** LeRossignol, James Edward. Orthodox Socialism. Crowell, New York, 
1907. 

* Malthus, Thomas Robert. Essay on Population. 

* Marshall, Leon C., and L. S. Lyon. Our Economic Organization. Mac¬ 

millan, New York. 1921. 

* Marx, Karl, and Frederick Engels. The Communist Manifesto. 
Memorandum on Certain Aspects of the Bolshevist Movement in Russia. 

Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 1919. 

Myers, William Starr. Socialism and American Ideals. Princeton Uni¬ 
versity Press, Princeton, 1919. 

* Plebn, Carl C. Introduction to Public Finance. 4th edition. Macmillan, 

New York. 1920. 

Porter, Robert P. The Dangers of Municipal Ownership. Century Co., 
New York. 1907. 




BIBLIOGRAPHY 549 

Powell, George H. Cooperation in Agriculture, Macmillan, New York. 

1913- 

* Price, Overton W. The Land We Live In. Small, Maynard Co., Boston. 

1919. 

Ripley, William Z. Trusts, Pools and Corporations. Revised Edition. Ginn 
and Co., Boston. 1916. 

** Seager, Henry Rogers. Principles of Economics. Henry Holt and Co., 
New York. 1917. 

Seligman, Edwin R. Essays in Taxation. 8th edition. Macmillan, New 
York. 1917. 

-. Principles of Economics. 6 th edition. Longmans. Green and Co., 

New York. 1914. 

* Skelton, O. D. Socialism, a Critical Analysis. Houghton Mifflin Company, 

Boston. 1911. 

* Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of 

Nations. 

** Smith, J. Russell. Commerce and Industry. Henry Holt and Co., New 
York. 1916. 

-. The Story of Iron and Steel. Appleton, New York. 1908. 

Sonnichsen, Albert. Consumers’ Cooperation. Macmillan, New York. 1919. 
Tarbell, Ida M. The Tariff in Our Times. Macmillan, New York. 1911. 
** Taussig, Frank W. Principles of Economics. 2 vols. Macmillan, New 
York. 1919. 

-. The Tariff History of the United States. Putnam, New York. 1916. 

Thompson, Charles M. Elementary Economics. B. H. Sanborn and Co., 
New York. 1920. 

Thompson, Carl D. Municipal Ownership. B. W. Huebsch, New York 
1917 - 

Van Hise, Charles R. Concentration and Control: a Solution of the Trust 
Problem in the United States. Macmillan, New York. 1912. 

**-. The Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States. 

Macmillan, New York. 1918. 

Weld, Louis D. H. The Marketing of Farm Products. Macmillan, New 
York. 1916. 

White, Horace. Money and Banking. Ginn and Co., Boston. 1911. 
Wood, Thomas B. The Story of a Loaf of Bread. Putnam, New York. 1913. 
Young, Arthur N. The Single Tax Movement in the United States. Princeton 
University Press, Princeton. 1916. 


Social 

Abbott, Edith. Women in Industry. Appleton, New York. 1910. 
Abbott, Grace. The Immigrant and the Community, Century Co., New 
York. 1917. 






550 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Addams, Jane. The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets. Macmillan, 
New York. 1909. 

Anderson, Wilbert Lee. The Country Town. Baker and Taylor Co., New 
York. 1906. 

Antin, Mar} r . The Promised Land. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 1912. 

-. They Who Knock at Our Gates. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 

1914. 

* Atlanta University Publications. Atlanta University Press, Atlanta, 

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Bailey, Liberty Hyde. The Training of Farmers. Century Co., New 
York. 1909. 

Baldwin, Simeon E. The Relation of Education to Citizenship. Yale Uni¬ 
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Bloomfield, Meyer. The Vocational Guidance of Youth. Houghton Mifflin 
Co., Boston. 1911. 

Bogardus, Emory S. Essentials of Americanization. University of Southern 
California, Press, Los Angeles. 1919. 

Booth, Maud Ballington. After Prison - What ? F. H. Revell Co., New York 
1903. 

* Bryce, James. The Hindrances to Good Citizenship. Yale University 

Press, New Haven. 1919. 

** Burch, Henry Reed, and S. W. Patterson. American Social Problems. 
Macmillan, New York. 1919. 

Butler, Elizabeth B. Women and the Trades. New York, 1909. 

Butler, Nicholas Murray. The Meaning of Education , and Other Essays. 
Macmillan, New York. 1905. 

Butterfield, Kenyon L. The Country Church and the Rural Problem. Chicago 
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* -. The Farmer and the New Day. Macmillan, New York. 1919. 

Cabot, Richard C. Social Work: Essays on the Meeting Ground of Doctor 

and Social Worker. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 1919. 

Carney, Mabel. Country Life and the Country School. Row, Peterson and 
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** Carver, Thomas Nixon. Sociology arid Social Progress. Ginn and 
Co., Boston. 1905. 

Cleveland, Frederick A., and Joseph Schafer. Democracy in Reconstruction. 

Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 1919. 

Colcord, Joanna C. Broken Homes: a Study of Family Desertion and its 
Social Treatment. Russell Sage Foundation, New York. 1919. 

* Commons, John R. Races and Immigrants in America. Macmillan, 

New York. 1911. 

Conyngton, Mary. How to Help. The Ronald Press, New York. 1906. 
Coolidge, Mary. Chinese Immigration. Henry Holt and Co., New York. 
1909. 




BIBLIOGRAPHY 551 

Cubberley, Ellwood P. Changing Conceptions in Education. Houghton 
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* -. Public Education in the United States. Houghton Mifflin Co., 

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Curtis, Henry S. Education Through Play. Macmillan, New York. 1915. 
Davenport, Eugene. Education for Efficiency. D. C. Heath Co., Boston. 
1909. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education. Bulletin 1919 , No. 77. 
State Americanization. Washington, D. C. 1920. 

* Devine, Edward T. Misery and its Causes. Macmillan, New York. 

1909. 

-. The Practice of Charity. Dodd Mead and Co., New York. 1904. 

* -• The Principles of Relief. Macmillan, New York. 1904. 

-. The Spirit of Social Work. Charities Publication Committee, 

New York. 1912. 

Dewey, John. Schools of To-morrow. Dutton, New York. 1915. 
Dugdale, Richard L. The Jukes, a Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease 
and Heredity. Putnam, New York. 1891. 

Eliot, Charles W. Education for Efficiency. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 
1909. 

** Ellwood, Charles A. Sociology and Modern Social Problems. American 
Book Co., New York. 1919. 

Fisher, Irving. Bulletin of the Committee of One Hundred on National Health, 
being a Report on National Vitality, its Wastes and Conservation. Gov¬ 
ernment Printing-Office, Washington, D. C. 1909. 

Galpin, Charles J. Rural Life. Century Co., New York. 1918. 

* George, William R. The Junior Republic, its History and Ideals. Apple- 

ton, New York. 1910. 

Gill, Charles O., and Gifford Pinchot. The Country Church. Macmillan, 
New York. 1913. 

** Gillette, John Morris. Constructive Rural Sociology. Sturgis and 
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Goddard, Henry H. The Kallikak Family. Macmillan, New York. 1912. 

* Goodsell, Willystine. The Family as a Social and Educational Institution. 

Macmillan, New York. 1915. 

Gulick, Charlotte E. Emergencies. Ginn and Co., Boston. 1909. 

Gulick, Sidney L. American Democracy and Asiatic Citizenship. Chas. 
Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1919. 

Hadley, Arthur T. The Education of the American Citizen. Chas. Scrib¬ 
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-. The Relation between Freedom and Responsibility in the Evolution 

of Democratic Government. Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1903. 
Hall, Herbert J., and M. M. C. Buck. Handicrafts for the Handicapped, 
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55 2 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


** Hall, Prescott F. Immigration, and its Effects on the United States. 

Henry Holt and Co., New York. 1906. 

Henderson, Charles Hanford. What is it to be Educated? Houghton Mifflin 
Co., Boston. 1914. 

* Henderson, Charles Richmond. An Introduction to the Study of the Depend¬ 

ent , Defective and Delinquent Classes. D. C. Heath and Co., Boston. 

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-. Modern Methods of Charity. Macmillan, New York. 1904. 

* -. Modern Prison Systems. Government Printing Office, Wash¬ 

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Hutchinson, Woods. Preventable Diseases. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 

1909. 

* Jenks, Jeremiah, and W. Jett Lauck. The Immigration Problem. 4th 

edition. Funk and Wagnalls, New York. 1917. 

* Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life. Doubleday, Page and Co., New 

York. 1903. 

Kelley, Florence. Some Ethical Gains through Legislation. New York. 
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King, Irving. Education for Social Efficiency. Appleton, New York. 1913. 
Leake, Albert H. Industrial Education, Its Problems, Methods and Danger. 
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 1913. 

* Lee, Frederick S. The Human Machine and Industrial Efficiency. Long¬ 

mans, Green and Co., New York. 1918. 

** Lewis, Burdette G. The Offender and His Relations to Law and Society. 

Harper and Bros., New York. 1917. * 

Lichtenberger, James P. Divorce, a Study in Social Causation. New 

York. 1909. 

MacLean, Annie M. Women Workers and Society. McClurg, Chicago, 1916. 

* McMurry, Frank M. How to Study and Teaching How to Study. Hough¬ 

ton Mifflin Co., Boston. 1909. 

** Mangold, George B. Problems of Child Welfare. Macmillan, New 
York. 1914. 

Ogden, Henry Neely. Rural Hygiene. Macmillan, New York. 1911. 
Oliver, Thomas. Diseases of Occupation, from the Legislative, Social and 
Medical Points of View. London. 1908. 

Osborne, Thomas Mott. Society and Prisons. Yale University Press, 
New Haven. 1916. 

* Parsons, Frank. Choosing a Vocation. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 

1909. 

** Perry, Clarence A. Wider Use of the School Plant. Charities Publication 
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Queen, Stuart. The Passing of the County Jail. George Banta Publishing 
Co., Menasha, Wis. 1920. 

* Riis, Jacob A. The Battle with the Slum. Macmillan, New York. 1902. 




BIBLIOGRAPHY 553 

Riis, Jacob A. The Peril and the Preservation of the Home. G. W. Jacobs 
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* Roberts, Peter. The Problem of Americanization. Macmillan, New York. 

1920. 

* Rubinow, Isaac M. Standards of Health Insurance. Henry Holt & Co., 

New York. 1916. 

Sargent, Dudley A. Physical Education. Ginn and Co., Boston, 1906. 
** Smith, Reginald Heber. Justice and the Poor. Carnegie Foundation 
for the advancement of teaching, Bulletin No. 13, New York. 1919. 

* Smith, Richard Mayo. Emigration and Immigration. Chas. Scribner’s 

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* Steiner, Edward A. From Alien to Citizen. F. H. Revell Co., New York. 

1914. 

-. On the Trail of the Immigrant. F. H. Revell Co., New York. 

1906. 

Steiner, Jessie F. The Japanese Invasion. Chicago, 1917. 

Storey, Moorfield. Problems of To-day. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 
1920. 

Taylor, Joseph S. A Handbook of Vocational Education. Macmillan, 
New York. 1914. 

Tillinghast, Joseph A. The Negro in Africa and America. American 
Economic Association, New York. 1902. 

Tolman, Wm. H. Hygiene for the Worker. American Book Co., New 
York. 1912. 

Tufts, James H. The Real Business of Living. Henry Holt and Co., New 
York. 1918. 

** Vogt, Paul L. Introduction to Rural Sociology. Appleton, New York. 
1917. 

** Warner, Am os G. American Charities. 3d edition. Crowell, New 
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Washington, Booker T. The Future of the American Negro. Small, Maynard 
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■-. The Story of the Negro. Doubleday, Page and Co., New York. 

1909. 

**-. Tuskegee and its People , their Ideals and Achievements. Doubleday, 

Page and Co., New York. 1905. 

**-. Up from Slavery. Doubleday, Page and Co., New York. 1901. 

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Willcox, Walter F. The Divorce Problem: a Study in Statistics. New York. 
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* Williamson, Thames Ross. Sociology' of the American Negro. 

** Wines, Frederick H. Punishment and Reformation. Latest edition. 

* Wolfe, Albert. Readings in Social Problems. Ginn and Co., Boston. 1916. 





554 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Wood, Edith. The Housing of the Unskilled Wage Earner. Macmillan, 
New York. 1919. 

Woods, Arthur. Crime Prevention. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 
1918. 

* Woods, Robert A. Americans in Process. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 
1902. 


Political 

Beard, Charles A. American Citizenship. Mrcmillan, New York. 1917 

-. American City Government. Century Co., New York. 1912. 

**-. American Government and Politics. Macmillan, New York. 1920. 

-. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. 

Macmillan, New York. 1913. 

* -. Readings in American Government and Politics. Macmillan, 

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--. The Supreme Court and the Constitution. Macmillan, New York. 

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Beard, Charles A., and Birl Schultz. Documents on the State-wide Initiative, 
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Borgeaud, Charles. Adoption and Amendment of Constitutions in Europe 
and America. Macmillan, New York. 1895. 

* Brewer, David J. American Citizenship. Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New 

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’rooks, Robert C. Corruption in American Politics and Life. Dodd, Mead 
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** Bryce, James. Modern Democracies. 2 vols. Macmillan, New York. 
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**-. The American Commonwealth. 2 vols. Macmillan, New York. 

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Childs, Richard S. Short Ballot Principles. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 

1911. 

** Cleveland, Frederick PI., Organized Democracy. Longmans, Green and 
Co., New York. 1913. 

* Cleveland, Frederick H., and A. E. Buck. The Budget and Responsible 

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Commons, John R. Proportional Representation. Macmillan, New York. 
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Croly, Herbert. The Promise of American Life. Macmillan, New York. 

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** Cyclopedia of American Government. Edited by A. C. McLaughlin and 
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Dealey, James Q. Growth of American State Constitutions from 1776 to 
the End of the Year 1914. Ginn and Co., Boston. 1915 







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** Dunn, Arthur William. The Community and the Citizen. D. C. Heath 
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Follett, Mary Parker. The Speaker of the House of Representatives. Long¬ 
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Foltz, E. B. K. The Federal Civil Service as a Career . Putnam, New York. 
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Ford, Henry Jones. The Cost of Our National Government. Columbia 
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**-. The Rise and Growth of American Politics. Macmillan, New 

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Gilbertson, H. S. The County. National Short Ballot Organization. New 

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Goodnow, Frank J. Social Reform and the Constitution. Macmillan, New 
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** Guitteau, William Backus. Government and Politics in the United States. 

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Haines, Charles G. The American Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy. Mac¬ 
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* Jones, Chester L. Readings on Parties and Elections in the United States , 

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556 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Kaye, Percy Lewis. Readings in Civil Government. Century Co., New 
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* Kimball, Everett. State and Municipal Government in the United States. 

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* -—. The National Government of the United States. Ginn and Co., 

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Leacock, Stephen A. Elements of Political Science. Houghton Mifflin 
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** Lowell, A. Lawrence. Public Opinion and Popular Government. Long¬ 
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McCall, Samuel Walker. The Business of Congress , Columbia University 
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McKinley, Albert E. The Suffrage Franchise in the Thirteen English Col¬ 
onies in America. Philadelphia. 1905. 

** Massachusetts Constitutional Convention Bulletins. Boston, 1917. 

** Mathews, John M. Principles of . State Administration. Appleton, 
New York. 1917. 

Maxey, C. C. County Administration. Macmillan, New York. 1919. 
Merriam, Charles Edward. American Political Ideas. Macmillan, New 
York. 1920. 

** Munro, William Bennett. The Government of American Cities. Mac¬ 
millan, New York. 1920. 

-. The Government of European Cities. Macmillan, New York. 1909. 

**-. The Government of the United States. Macmillan, New York. 

1919. 

* -. The Initiative , Referendum and Recall. Appleton, New York. 

1913 - 

Porter, Kirk. A History of Suffrage in the United States. University of 
Chicago Press, Chicago. 1918. 

** Ray, P. Orman. An Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics. 

Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. 1913. 

** Reed, Thomas Harrison. Form and Functions of American Government. 
World Book Co., New York. 1917. 

* Reinsch, Paul S. American Legislatures and Legislative Methods. Century 

Co., New York. 1913. 

-. Readings on American Federal Government. Ginn and Co., Boston, 

1909. 

-. Readings on American State Government. Ginn and Co., Boston. 

1911. 

Root, Elihu. Addresses on Government and Citizenship. Harvard Uni¬ 
versity Press, Cambridge. 1916. 

* Seymour, Charles. How the World Votes. 2 Vols. C. A. Nichols Co., 

Springfield. 1918. 

Taft, William Howard. Our Chief Magistrate and His Powers. Columbia 
University Press. New York. 1916. 







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Taft, William Howard. Popular Government. Yale University Press, New 
Haven. 1914. 

* Woodburn, James Albert. Political Parties and Party Problems in the 
United States. Putnam, New York. 1914. 

Woodburn, James Albert, and T. F. Moran. The Citizen and the Republic. 

Longmans, Green and Co., New York. 1920. 

Young, James T. The New American Government and its Work. Macmillan; 
New York. 1915. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America. 

ARTICLE I 

Section I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress 
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Represent¬ 
atives. 

Sect. II. i. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors 
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most 
numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the 
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he 
shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several 
States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective 
numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free 
persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding 
Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration 
shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the 
United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner 
as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed 
one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire 
shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Provi¬ 
dence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Penn¬ 
sylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, 
South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Execu¬ 
tive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other 
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sect. III. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 

558 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 559 


Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and 
each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first 
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The 
seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the 
second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the 
third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen 
every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during 
the recess of the legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make 
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office 
of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When 
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: and no person 
shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to 
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 
trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall never¬ 
theless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, 
according to law. 

Sect. IV. 1. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators 
and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; 
but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except 
as to the places of choosing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting 
shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint 
a different day. 

Sect. V. 1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, 
and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such 
manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members 
for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time 
publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; 


560 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 


and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall, 
at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent 
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sect. VI. 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensa¬ 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law and paid out of the treasury of 
the United States. They shall in all cases except treason, felony and breach 
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session 
of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and 
for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any 
other place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, 
which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been 
increased, during such time; and no person holding any office under the United 
States shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office. 

Sect. VII. 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as 
on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the 
United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with 
his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter 
the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after 
such reconsideration two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall 
likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of that house, it shall 
become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be deter¬ 
mined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill 
shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after 
it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if 
he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, 
in which case it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of 
adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and 
before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved 
by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representa¬ 
tives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sect. VIII. The Congress shall have power 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts 
and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 561 

but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United 
States; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian tribes; 

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the 
subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix 
the standard of weights and measures; 

6 . To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current 
coin of the United States; 

7. To establish post offices and post roads; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited 
times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings 
and discoveries; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas 
and offences against the law of nations; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captures on land and water; 

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use 
shall be for a longer term than two years; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, 
suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, ar min g and disciplining the militia, and for 
governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and 
the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such dis¬ 
trict (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, 
and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United 
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent 
of the legislature of the State, in which the same shall be, for the erection of 
forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings; and 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitu¬ 
tion in the government of the United States, or in any department or office 
thereof. 

Sect. IX. 1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall t hink proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the 


562 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

Congress prior to the year 1808; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding $10 for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to 
the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue 
to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or 
from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of ap¬ 
propriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts 
and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person 
holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of 
the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind 
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Sect. X. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; 
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make 
anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill 
of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or 
grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or 
duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for 
executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, 
laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of 
the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control 
of the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, 
keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com¬ 
pact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II 

Section I. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four 
years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, 
be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may 
direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Repre¬ 
sentatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator 
or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 563 


[The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two 
persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with 
themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the 
number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then 
be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the 
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors ap¬ 
pointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately 
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, 
then from the five highest on the list the said house shall in like manner choose 
the President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by 
States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the States, 
and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, 
after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes 
of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or 
more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the 
Vice-President.] 

3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the 
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same through¬ 
out the United States. 

4. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, 
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office 
of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not 
have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

5. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death, resigna¬ 
tion, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same 
shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by law provide for 
the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and 
Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such 
officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall 
be elected. 

6. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensa¬ 
tion, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for 
which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period 
any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

7. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following 
oath or affirmation: — “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my 
ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 


564 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 


Sect. II. 1. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called 
into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in 
writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any 
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power 
to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except 
in cases of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he 
shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall 
appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme 
Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not 
herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the 
Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they 
think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at 
the end of their next session. 

Sect. III. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of 
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, 
convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such 
time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public 
ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall 
commission all the officers of the United States. 

Sect. IV. The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and on conviction 
of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III 

Section I. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in 
one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to 
time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior 
courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, 
receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during 
their continuance in office. 

Sect. II. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, 
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made 
or which shall be made, under their authority; — to all cases affecting ambassa¬ 
dors, other public ministers and consuls; — to all cases of admiralty jurisdic¬ 
tion;— to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; — to 
controversies between two or more States; — between a State and citizens of 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 565 


another State; — between citizens of different States; — between citizens of 
the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a 
State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have 
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme 
Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such ex¬ 
ceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; 
and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been 
committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at 
such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Sect. III. 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying 
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses 
to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but 
no’attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except 
during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV 

Section I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public 
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and 
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sect. II. 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who 
fchall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the 
executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be 
removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, 
be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of 
the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Sect. III. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts 
of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well 
as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules 
and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the 
United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to 
prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 


566 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

Sect. IV. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against in¬ 
vasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the 
legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the 
legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for pro¬ 
posing amendments, which, in either case shall be valid to all intents and pur¬ 
poses, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three 
fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided 
that no amendments which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the 
ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall 
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI 

r i. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption 
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this 
Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made 
in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the 
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members 
of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both or 
the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirma¬ 
tion, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required 
as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the 
establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, the 
seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-seven and of the Independence of the United States of 
America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our 
names. 

[Signed by] 


Go Washington 
Presidt and Deputy from Virginia 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 567 


Articles in Addition to and Amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified 
by the Legislatures of the Several States, Pursuant to the 
Fifth Article of the Original Constitution 1 

Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and 
to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

Article II. A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 

Article III. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be 
prescribed by law. 

Article IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and 
the persons or things to be seized. 

Article V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury except 
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual 
service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the 
same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled 
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property 
be taken for public use without just compensation. 

Article VI. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been 
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of 
the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assist¬ 
ance of counsel for his defence. 

Article VII. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact 
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, 
than according to the rules of the common law. 

Article VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Article X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 

1 The first ten Amendments were adopted in 1791* 


568 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respec¬ 
tively, or to the people. 

Article XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one 
of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of 
any foreign state. [Adopted in 1798.] 

Article XII. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be 
an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of 
the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to 
the President of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the pres¬ 
ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and 
the votes shall then be counted; — the person having the greatest number of 
votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of 
those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose im¬ 
mediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes 
shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; 
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds 
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March 
next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the 
death or other constitutional disability of the President. — The person having 
the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if 
such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if 
no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the 
Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist 
of two thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole 
number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible 
to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 
States. [Adopted in 1804.] 

Article XIII. Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con¬ 
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris¬ 
diction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. [Adopted in 1865.] 

Article XIV. ( Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 569 

States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States 
and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; 
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protec¬ 
tion of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons 
in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any 
election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-President of the United 
States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a 
State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male 
inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the 
United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or 
other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the propor¬ 
tion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of 
male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or 
Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an 
oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a 
member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any 
State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two thirds of each house, remove such 
disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized 
by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for 
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But 
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obliga¬ 
tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, 
and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legisla¬ 
tion the provisions of this article. [Adopted in 1867.] 

Article XV. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account 
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro¬ 
priate legislation. [Adopted in 1870.] 

Article XVI. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 
incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the sev¬ 
eral States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. [Adopted in 1913.] 
Article XVII. Section 1. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 


570 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 


posed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six, 
years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall 
have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
State Legislatures. 

Section 2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in 
the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election 
to fill such vacancies: Provided that the Legislature of any State may empower 
the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the 
vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 

Section 3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election 
or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. 
[Adopted in 1913.] 

Article XVIII. Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this 
article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, 
the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from, the United 
States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage pur¬ 
poses is hereby prohibited. 

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent 
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been 
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the 
several States, as provided by the Constitution, within seven years from the 
date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress. [Adopted 
in 1919.] 

Article XIX. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
account of sex. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by ap¬ 
propriate legislation. 


INDEX 


Accident insurance, 174-175. 

Administration, of municipal gov¬ 
ernment, 533 (see Federal ad¬ 
ministration , State administration). 

Agriculture, in the United States, 
47; Department of, 245, 459 
(see Rural Life). 

Albany plan of Union, 18-19, 431. 

Almsgiving (see Dependency). 

Almshouse (see Dependency). 

Amending process, as a means of 
popular control, 390-391. 

Amendment, under the Articles of 
Confederation, 20; of the Federal 
Constitution, 29, 30; of State 
constitutions, 29, 499-500. 

Amendments to the Federal Con¬ 
stitution, analysis of, 438. 

America, reasons for development 
of democracy in, n-12. 

American Association for Labor 
Legislation, 175. 

American city, growth of, 528-530; 
government of, 53 i~S33 ( see 
Municipal government). 

American democracy, background 
of, 1-6; origin of, 9-15; devel¬ 
opment of, 18-24; in 1787, 24; 
problems of, 35-41. 

American Federation of Labor, 117, 
I S 5 - 

American government, effect of 
Revolution upon, 14-15; essen¬ 
tials of, 27-32; not perfect, 35; 
strength of, 27-28; contrasted 
with government under the Arti¬ 
cles of Confederation, 27-28; 


check and balance system in, 
28-29; stability of, 28-29; con¬ 
trasted with Latin-American gov¬ 
ernments, 29; rights of the in¬ 
dividual under, 29-30; controlled 
by the people, 30; efficiency ol, 
30-31; spirit of progress in, 31- 
32 (see Federal government, State 
governments , etc.). 

American industry, nature of, 44- 
49; magnitude of, 44. 

American life, promise of, 39-40. 

American people, occupations of, 46. 

Americanization, nature of, 188- 
189; program of, 188-190 (see 
Immigration ). 

Anarchism, 104. 

Anarchy, 28, 32. 

Andros, 21. 

Annapolis Convention, 24. 

Anthony, Susan B., 344, 346. 

Anthracite coal strike of 1902, 159. 

Arbitration, defined, 161; volun¬ 
tary, 160-161; compulsory, 161- 
162, 164; in Australasia, 161; in 
the United States, 162, 164. 

Articles of Confederation, nature of, 
19, 431-432; defects of, 19-20, 
431-432; failure of, 20-21; les¬ 
son taught by failure of, 22-23. 

Asiatic immigration, 186-187. 

Assimilation (see Immigration). 

Attorney-General, of the United 
States, 458. 

Australasia, compulsory arbitration 
in, 161-162. 

Australian ballot, 357. 


572 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Back to the land movement, 244- 
245 (see Rural Life). 

Ballot, Australian, 357. 

Bank, defined, 315; commercial, 
316; credit, 316-318. 

Bank note, defined, 315. 

Banking, necessity of elasticity in, 
318-319; before 1913, 319-321; 
panic of 1907 and, 321; reform in, 
321-322; under Federal Reserve 
System, 322-324 (see Federal Re¬ 
serve System). 

Banks, types of, 315-316. 

Barter, 63-64. 

Beard, Charles A., 24, 507. 

Bill drafter, 379, 515-516. 

Bill of attainder, 434, 513. 

Bill of rights, 10, 29, 497-498. 

Blacklist, defined, 158. 

Bloodless Revolution, 21. 

Bolshevists, the, 120-127; origin of, 
120-121; constitution put forth 
by, 121-122; dictatorship of the 
proletariat by, 12 2-123; suppres¬ 
sion of democracy by, 123-124; 
return to capitalism, 125; were 
they given a fair trial? 125-126; 
propaganda of, 126-127 ( see 
Socialism). 

Bonus, and industrial peace, 160. 

Boycott, defined, 158. 

Bryce, Lord, 31, 195, 378. 

Budget, in American goverment, 
381-382; reform, 382-383. 

Bureaucracy, danger of under so¬ 
cialism, 130-131. 

Burke, 360. 

Business, relation to government, 
38-39; public interest in, 267- 
268; regulation of, 267-273; 
question of public ownership of, 
277-288 (see Industry , Trusts , 
Public Utilities , Railroads , etc.). 

Business man, the, 62. 


Cabinet, in the United States, 454- 
455; in Europe, 455. 

Campaign contributions (see Po¬ 
litical party). 

Canal Zone, 450. 

Cannon, Speaker, 479. 

Capital, distinguished from money, 
64; in production, 56-57. 

Capitalism, as a system, 76; bases 
of, 76-83; benefits of, 80; defects 
of, 80-81; inequality of wealth 
under, 81-82; indicted by social¬ 
ism, 105-106; claimed evils of, 
107; abolished by the bolshevists, 
x23-124; returned to by the bol¬ 
shevists, 125; under-rated by 
socialism, 137-138; remedy for 
the defects of, 141 (see So¬ 
cialism). 

Carey Act, 307. 

Carver, Thomas Nixon, 77, 88, 131, 

141.- 

Caucus, origin of, 365; rise and de¬ 
cline of, 365-366; distinguished 
from the primary, 367 (see Nomi¬ 
nations). 

Census, 460. 

Charge d'affaires ad interim , 448. 

Charity, complexity of the problem 
of, 37 (see Dependency). 

Check, defined, 315. 

Check and balance system, 28-29, 
434 - 437 - 

Child labor, 36; extent and causes 
of, 168-169; effects of, 169; laws 
on, 169-171; minimum provisions 
of a good law on, 170-171. 

Chinese immigration, 186-187. 

Church, rural, 249-250; and public 
opinion, 422. 

Circuit court, 488, 521 (see Courts). 

Citizenship, responsibilities of, 40; 
contrasted with the suffrage, 341, 
347 - 


INDEX 


573 


City (see American city , Municipal 
government). 

City council, organization of, 531; 
powers of, 531-532; procedure in, 
532; and the mayor, 532-533. 

City manager plan, 384-385 (see 
Municipal government). 

Cityward drift, nature of, 243; 
reasons for, 243-244; significance 
of, 244 (see Rural life). 

Civil procedure, in the state courts, 

523-524- 

Civil service, insurance of employees 
in, 175-176; reform of, 358, 449; 
in state government, 507-508; 
in municipal government, 530. 

Civil Service Act, 358, 508. 

Civil Service Commission, 449. 

Civilization, nature of, 1; relation 
to nature of the land, 2; relation 
to the character of the people, 2. 

Class struggle, 107, 134-135 (see 
Socialism). 

Clay, Henry, 295. 

Clayton Act, 271-272. 

Cleveland, President, 447. 

Closed shop, 157, 158, 163 (see 
Trade unions). 

Collective bargaining, 157, 158, 163. 

Colonial governments, types of, 430. 

Colonies, growth of, 6; as self-gov¬ 
erning states, 14; social and eco¬ 
nomic differences among, 22. 

Colonization of North America, 3-6; 
by Spain, 3-4; by France, 4; by 
Holland, 4-5; by England, 5. 

Commerce, Department of, 460. 

Commission dealers, licensing of, 247. 

Commission plan, 383-384 (see 
Municipal government). 

Committee on Rules, 479-480. 

Committee system, in legislation, 
378; merits and faults, 378; in 
Congress, 480. 


Common law, 15, 519. 

Communism, distinguished from so¬ 
cialism, 104 (see Socialism). 

Communist Manifesto, 105. 

Community spirit, in the country, 
250-251. 

Competition, forms of, 77; in indus¬ 
try, 78-79. 

Confederation government, con¬ 
trasted with the Federal govern¬ 
ment, 27 (see Articles of Confeder¬ 
ation). 

Conference of Governors, 306, 310 
(see Conservation). 

Congress, consists of two houses, 465; 
powers of, 471-473; sessions of, 
476; organization of, 476-480; 
the Speaker of the House, 477- 
479; Committee on Rules, 479- 
480; committee system in, 480; 
making a law, 480-483 (see Senate, 
House of Representatives). 

Congressional district, 469. 

Congressional Record, 477, 481. 

Connecticut, 12, 14, 18; Funda¬ 
mental Orders of, 13. 

Conservation, of natural resources, 
303-311; movement toward, 305- 
306; of forests and water power, 
306; of land, 306-307; of miner¬ 
als, 307-308; outlook for, 308- 
309; needs, 309-310; cooperation 
in, 310; administration of, 310- 
311 (see Natural resources). 

Consolidation of rural schools, 
249. 

Constitution (see Federal Constitu¬ 
tion , State Constitution). 

Constitutional Convention, called, 
432; work of, 432 - 433 - 

Consumers’ cooperation, 96. 

Continental Congresses, 19, 43 1 - 

Contract labor, 186. 

Contracts, enforcement of, 77-78. 


574 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Convention, nominating, 366-367 
(see Nominations). 

Coolidge, Calvin, 446. 

Cooperation, two types of, 54; and 
coordination, 57; and profit- 
sharing, 95; consumers’, 96; in 
credit, 96-97; in marketing, 97; 
in production, 97-98; extent of, 
98-99; benefits of, 99. 

Coordination, as a factor in produc¬ 
tion, 57; types of, 62. 

Corporations, taxation of, 330, 331, 
332, 336-337 (see Taxation). 

Correction (see Crime). 

Corrupt Practices Acts, 357, 359. 

County, courts, 521; government 
of, 539-542; government of the 
southern, 539; government of 
the Far Western, 539; govern¬ 
ment of the North Central, 540- 
542; home rule for the, 542. 

Court of Claims, 489. 

Court of Customs Appeals, 489. 

Court of Industrial Relations, in 
Kansas, 162. 

Courts, attitude toward labor legis¬ 
lation, 177 (see Federal courts, State 
courts, District courts, County). 

Courts-martial, 489. 

Credit, defined, 315; nature of, 
316-317; dangers of, 317-318. 

Credit and banking, 315-324 (see 
Banking, Federal Reserve System). 

Credit cooperation, 96-97. 

Crime, 193-203; nature of, 193; 
causes of, 193-195; remedies for, 
195; and justice, 195-197; treat¬ 
ment of, 197-203; power of Con¬ 
gress over, 472-473- 

Criminal law, 196-197. 

Criminal procedure, reform of, 197; 
in state courts, 524-525. 

Critical period of American history, 
20-21. 


Dayton, Ohio, 385. 

Declaration of Independence, 18. 

Decreasing cost, principle of, 281 
(see Railroads). 

Defense, power of Congress over, 
472 - 

Democracy, defined, 10-11; as a 
political idea, 10-n; as a form 
of government, n; pure, n; 
representative, n; and popular 
control, 11; in Great Britain, n; 
reasons for development of, 11-12; 
application of the idea of, 12-13; 
as a philosophy of life, 24; re¬ 
lation to education, 255-256; 
relation to Public Opinion, 426 
(see American democracy). 

Democratic program of industrial 
reform, 141-151. 

Department, of Agriculture, 307, 
459; of Commerce, 460; of the 
Interior, 459; of Justice, 458; 
of Labor, 460-461; of Navy, 
457 - 458 ; of State, 456; of 
Treasury, 456-4575 of War, 457. 

Dependency, 229-238; and the 
neighborhood, 229-230; extent of, 
230-231; causes of, 231-232; and 
almsgiving, 232-233; and the 
almshouse, 233; ideals in treat¬ 
ment of, 233-235; specialization 
in treatment of, 235-236; co¬ 
ordination in treatment of, 236- 
237; functional and financial 
federation, 237; and the neigh¬ 
borhood of the future, 237-238. 

Despotism, 29, 32; and bolshevism, 

122. 

Dictatorship of the proletariat, 122- 

123. 

Diplomatic service, 447-448. 

Direct Legislation, nature of, 392; 
advantages claimed for, 392; 
objections urged against, 392-393. 


INDEX 


Direct Primary, nature of, 367; 
extent of, 367-368; advantages 
of, 368; objections urged against, 
368-369; outlook for, 369. 

Distribution, of the income of in¬ 
dustry, 68-73; the problem prior 
to the Industrial Revolution, 68; 
effect of the Industrial Revolution 
upon the problem of, 68-69; sig¬ 
nificance of the entrepreneur in, 
69-70; process of, 70-73; de¬ 
terminants of the shares in, 73; 
unsoundness of socialist theory 
of, 132-133. 

District Attorney, 522, 525. 

District Courts, 488. 

District of Columbia, 459. 

Divine right, 9. 

Division of labor, 53-58; relation 
to exchange, 61. 

Divorce, evil of, 222; laws, 222-223 
(see Family). 

Dominion of New England, 21-22. 

Double taxation, 330-331, 332, 333, 
334, 336, 337 (see Taxation). 

Dumping, 297, 298. 

Dutch (see Holland). 

Economic background, importance 
of, in problem study, 37. 

Economic interpretation of history, 
106. 

Education, 38, 255-263; meaning 
of, 255; and democracy, 255-256; 
development of, 256; merits of 
our system of, 256-257; financing, 
257; control of, 257-258; uni¬ 
form standards in, 258; school 
attendance, 258-259; “practi¬ 
cal” versus cultural, 259-260; vo¬ 
cational, 260-261; wider use of 
the school plant, 261-262; school 
as a social center, 262-263; and 
social progress, 263. 


575 

Effective government, problem of, 
39- 

Efficiency in American government, 

30-31. 

Eight-hour day, 163. 

Elections, and the political party, 
356-357; legal regulation of, 357 
(see Nominations). 

Elkins Act, 283, 287. 

Emancipation (see Negro). 

Eminent domain, 435. 

Employer, what he wants, 157-158; 
and industrial warfare, 158-159. 

Employers’ associations, 155-156. 

England, colonization of America 
by, 5- 

English colonies, growth of, 6; ra¬ 
cial composition of, 6. 

Enterpreneur, 62; and the process 
of distribution, 69-73. 

Equity, 499. 

Europe, cooperation in, 96, 97, 98. 

Europeans, arrival in America of, 3. 

Ex post facto legislation, 434, 496, 
513- 

Exchange, and the division of labor, 
61; and transportation, 61; and 
coordination, 62-63; and barter, 
63-64; and money, 64-65; and 
value, 64-65; and price, 64-65; 
and the tariff, 292. 

Factory system, disadvantages of, 
154-155- 

Family, 216-225; significance of the, 
216; in the Middle Ages, 216-217; 
in modern times, 217; and the 
Industrial Revolution, 217-218; 
and the factory system, 218-219; 
and home-making, 219-220; and 
the economic dependence of 
woman, 220-221; and political 
emancipation of women, 221; and 
individualism, 221; and divorce, 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


57 6 

222-223; and marriage, 223-224; 
and law, 224; remedies for insta¬ 
bility of, 224-225; and education, 
225. 

Far West, county government in, 
539- 

Federal administration, develop¬ 
ment of, 454-455; President’s 
Cabinet, 455-456; Department 
of State, 456; Department of 
Treasury, 456-457; Department 
of War, 45 7; Department of Navy, 
457—458; Department of Justice, 
458; Post Office Department, 
458; Department of the Interior, 
459; Department of Agriculture, 

459- 460; Department of Com¬ 
merce, 460; Department of Labor, 

460- 461; other branches of the, 
461. 

Federal Board for Vocational Edu¬ 
cation, 261. 

Federal Constitution, 28, 29; origin 
of, 432-433; private rights under, 
434-435; supreme law of the 
land, 437; methods of amending, 
437; analysis of amendments to, 
438; judicial interpretation of, 
439,; and usage, 439. 

Federal courts, framework of, 486- 
489; constitutional basis of, 486; 
agents of, 486-487; Supreme 
Court, 487-488; Circuit Court 
of Appeals, 488; District Court, 
488; Special courts, 488-489; 
jurisdiction of, 489; interpreta¬ 
tion of the statutes by, 491; 
policies of, 491-492. 

Federal Farm Loan Act, 245-246. 

Federal government, framework of, 
433-434; theory of limited gov¬ 
ernment in, 433-434; private 
rights under, 434-435; division 
of powers in, 435; division of 


powers between state govern¬ 
ments and, 435-436. 

Federal law, supremacy of, 437; 
making of a, 480-483. 

Federal Reserve System, 322-324; 
elasticity under, 322-324; prom¬ 
ise of, 323-324. 

Federal Trade Commission, 271- 
272. 

Fifteenth Amendment, 206, 209. 

Finance, and government, 27. 

Fiske, John, 20, 432. 

Foreign affairs, and the President, 
447-448; and Congress, 472. 

Forests, in the United States, 46; 
destruction of, 303-304; conser¬ 
vation of, 306, 308, 309 (see Con¬ 
servation). 

Fourteenth Amendment, 206. 

France, colonization of America 
by, 4. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 18, 431. 

Free trade (see Tariff). 

Freedom, as a basis of capitalism, 
79-80. 

French and Indian wars, and 
union, 23. 

Fundamental Orders of Connecti¬ 
cut, 13. 

Galveston, Texas, 383. 

General property tax, as a source 
of revenue, 328; defects of, 329, 
330; reform of, 333 (see Taxation ). 

George, Henry, 86, 87, 90 (see Single 
tax). 

Georgia, 12. 

Germany, 36. 

Gerrymandering, 371, 469. 

Gladstone, 76. 

Government, nature of, 9; origin 
of, 9; forms of, 9-11; division of 
powers of, 13-14, 19, 28-29, 30- 
31; and business, 38-39; as a 


INDEX 


factor in production, 58; attitude 
toward industry, 76-77; increas¬ 
ing cost of, 327 (see Federal govern¬ 
ment , American government, Check 
and balance system). 

Government ownership (see Na¬ 
tional ownership). 

Governor, election of, 503; term and 
salary of, 503; powers of, 503- 
5 ° 5 - 

Governors’ Conference, 306, 310 
(see Conservation). 

Habeas corpus, 434, 490. 

Hague Conferences, the, 423. 

Harding, President, 183, 446. 

Haywood, William D., 113. 

Health, in industry, 168-177; rural, 
243-244, 248. 

Hepburn law, 283, 287. 

History, economic interpretation of, 
106; socialism disproved by, 135. 

Holding company, 269-270 (see 
Trust). 

Holland, colonization of America by, 
4 - 5 - 

Home-maker, coming of the, 5-6. 

Home market argument in tariff 
discussions, 295-296. 

Home rule, for counties, 542. 

Hooker, Thomas, 12. 

House of Burgesses, 13. 

House of Representatives, 465; or¬ 
ganization of, 476-477; member¬ 
ship of, 467; special powers of, 
471; officers of, 477-479; Speaker 
of the, 477-479; Committee on 
Rules in, 479-480 (see Congress, 
Senate). 

Illinois, proportional representation 
in, 371; administrative reform in, 
3 8i > 

Immigrants, helping the, 188-189; 


577 

redistributing, 189; Americani¬ 
zation, 188-190 (seeImmigration). 

Immigration, 181-190; the old, 181- 
182, 185; the new, 182, 185; in¬ 
creasing volume of, 182-183; dis¬ 
tribution, 183, 184; economic 

effects of, 183-184; social effects 
of, 184-185; and assimilation, 
185; restriction of, 183, 185-188; 
Asiatic, 186-187; future of, 187- 
188; our attitude toward, 188; 
and Americanization, 188-190; 
bureau of, 460. 

Impeachment, as a method of popu¬ 
lar control, 390; process of, 470, 
471. 

Imprisonment, substitutes for, 200. 

Income, necessity of wise utiliza¬ 
tion of, 149-150. 

Income tax, 334-335 (see Taxa¬ 
tion). 

Indeterminate sentence, 202 (see 
Crime). 

Indian, contrasted with the Negro, 
207; affairs, 459. 

Individual, and Public Opinion, 
405-406 (see Private rights). 

Individualism, in the American 
nature, 36; exaggeration of, 221. 

Industrial democracy, 164. 

Industrial peace, necessity of, 159; 
some methods of, 160-164; out¬ 
look for, 164. 

Industrial reform, 38; necessity of, 
82; approaching the problem of, 
82-83, I 3 8 - 

Industrial relations, 154-164. 

Industrial Revolution, 53-57; and 
the problem of distribution, 68- 
69; and health, 168; and the 
family, 217-218; and depend¬ 
ency, 230, 238. 

Industrial warfare, methods of, 
158-159; cost of, 159; necessity 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


578 

of avoiding, 159; ultimate remedy 
for, 164. 

Industrial Workers of the World 
(see I.W.W.). 

Industry, nature of, 44-49; ex¬ 
changing the products of, 61- 
65; distributing the income of, 
68-73; attitude of government 
toward, 76-77; under bolshevism, 
124. 

Infant industries argument in tariff 
discussions, 297-298. 

Inheritance tax, 335-336. 

Initiative, nature of, 391 (see Direct 
Legislation ). 

Injunction, in labor disputes, 159; 
bill or writ of, 491. 

Insurance (see Social insurance). 

Interest, 70-71. 

Interior, Department of, 459. 

International law, 414, 421. 

International relations, 410-414, 
420-424; Washington and, 410. 

Interstate Commerce Commission, 
282-283, 286, 287, 288. 

Interstate relations, 436-437. 

Intimidation, in industrial warfare, 
158. 

Isolation, of rural life, 243, 250. 

I.W.W., origin, 113; and syndi¬ 
calism, 113; and political social¬ 
ism, 113-114; methods of, 114- 
115; character of, 115-116; lim¬ 
ited appeal of, 116-117 (see So¬ 
cialism). 

Japanese immigration, 186-187. 

Journal and Record, 480. 

Judges (see Courts). 

Judiciary, power of Congress over, 
473, (see Courts). 

Judiciary Act, 486. 

Justice, nature of, 142; and poverty, 
144; as an ideal, 195-196; denial 


of, 196-197; Department of, 
458. 

Justice of the peace, 520. 

Juvenile Court, 201-202. 

Juvenile offender, 201. 

Kansas Court of Industrial Rela¬ 
tions, 162. 

Kerensky, Alexander, 121. 

Labor, in production, 56; increasing 
demand for, 146-147; decreasing 
the supply of, 147-148; and capi¬ 
tal, 154; Department of, 460-461. 

Labor legislation, obstacles to, 176- 
177 (see Health, Social insurance ). 

Labor organizations, rise of, 155; 
demands of, 162-164 (see Trade 
unions). 

Land, under single tax, 86-90; 
uneconomical use of, 304; con¬ 
servation of, 306-307, 308, 309. 

Large scale combination (see Trust). 

Latin-American republics, 10, 29. 

Law, and the family, 224; and 
Public Opinion, 399-400; making 
of a Federal, 480-483; making 
of a state, 514-515; sources of, 
519-520. 

League of Nations, 423. 

Legal aid society, 197-198. 

Legislation, actual work of, 480- 

483, 5I4-5IS- 

Legislative reference bureau, 379, 
516. 

Legislatures, over-worked, 377-378; 
committee system in, 378; log¬ 
rolling in, 378-379; reform of, 
379-380 (see Congress, State legis¬ 
latures). 

Lenin, N., 122, 123, 125, 126, 
127. 

Levine, Louis, 115. 

Liberalist, definition of, 144. 


INDEX 


Limited government, theory of, 
433 - 434 - 

Lincoln, Abraham, 32, 206, 447. 

Literacy test, 186. 

Living, old way of getting a, 53-54; 
new way of getting a, 54; methods 
of getting a, 77. 

Lobbying, in state legislatures, 
516. 

Local spirit in early America, 18. 

Lock-out, defined, 158. 

Log-rolling, 378-379. 

London Company, 13. 

Long ballot, 371-372 (see Short 
ballot). 

Louis XIV, 9. 

Lowell, A. L., 354. 

McAdoo, W. G. 285. 

Machinery, and the trade unions, 
156-157, 163. 

Magna Charta, 10, 12, 29, 195. 

Maine, Initiative in, 393. 

Majority representation, 370. 

Man in production, 56. 

Mandamus , writ of, 490. 

Mann-Elkins Act, 283, 287. 

Manufacturing, in the United States, 
47-48. 

Market, operations in the, 65. 

Marketing, cooperation in, 97; and 
the farmer, 246-247. 

Marriage, laws governing, 223-224 
(see Family). 

Marshall, Chief Justice, 495. 

Marx, Karl, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 
113, 135, 136 (see Socialism). 

Maryland, 23. 

Massachusetts, 21, 172. 

Massachusetts Bay, 13, 18. 

Mayflower Compact, 13. 

Mayor, and municipal government, 
53 I_ 533 ( see Municipal govern¬ 
ment). 


579 

Mayor-council plan of municipal 
government, 53i“533- 

Menshevists, 120. 

Mental defectives, treatment of, 
200-201. 

Middle Ages, family in, 216-217; 
neighborhood in, 229. 

Middle colonies, 22. 

Middleman, distinguished from the 
business man and the entrepre¬ 
neur, 62; importance of, 62-63; 
not always socially necessary, 
63 - 

Military argument in tariff discus¬ 
sion, 298. 

Minerals, in the United States, 46- 
47; lavish use of, 304-305; con¬ 
servation of, 307-308, 309. 

Minimum wage, and the trade union, 
156; and the employer, 158; na¬ 
ture of the, 172; arguments 
for, 17 2-173; objections urged 
against, 173. 

Minority, representation of the, 
370-371; and Public Opinion, 
424-425. 

Monarchy, absolute, 9; limited, 10. 

Money, nature and function of, 64; 
and value, 64-65; and price, 64- 
65; defined, 315 (see Banking). 

Monopoly, nature of, 268; types of, 
268-269, 277-278 (see Trust). 

Monroe Doctrine, The, 411-412. 

Moving picture, Public Opinion 
and the, 422. 

Municipal administration, 533 (see 
Municipal government). 

Municipal government, changes in 
the mayor-council plan of, 383; 
by commission, 383-384; by city- 
manager, 384-385; development 
of, 528-531; reform of, 530-531; 
organization of, 53 I— 533; types 
of, 53i; cit y council in, 53 i“ 53 2 » 


5 8o 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


5335 mayor in, 532, 533; adminis¬ 
trative officers in, 533. 

Municipal ownership, arguments 
for, 278-279; objections urged 
against, 279; extent of, 279-280; 
conditions of, 280. 

Munro, William B., 353, 369. 

National administration (see Federal 
administration ). 

National banking system, 318; de¬ 
fects of, 319-321. 

National Child Labor Committee, 
170-171. 

National Commission on the Reor¬ 
ganization of Secondary Educa¬ 
tion, 255. 

National Conservation Association, 
310 - 

National greatness, meaning of, 1; 
conditions of, 1-2; our claims to, 
6, 39-40. 

National ownership, arguments for, 
283-284; objections urged against, 
284 (see Railroads). 

Natural resources, of the United 
States, 46-47; and the early 
settler, 303; scarcity of, 303-305; 
monopoly of, 305; conservation 
of, 305-311 (see Conservation). 

Natural right, doctrine of, 342, 344. 

Naturalization, bureau of, 460. 

Nature in production, 54, 55, 56. 

Navy, Department of, 457-458. 

Negro, 206-213; origin of the 
American, 206; rise of the prob-, 
lem of, 206; numbers and dis¬ 
tribution of, 207; adaptability 
of, 207; progress of, 207-208; 
present condition of, 208-209; 
problem of, 209; need of program 
for, 210; education of, 210-211; 
economic adjustment of the, 211- 
212; cooperation in the problem 


of, 212; promise of, 212-213 (see 
Negro suffrage). 

Negro suffrage, in colonial days, 342; 
extension of, 343-344; restriction 
of, 3455 problem of, 346, 347-348. 

Neighborhood, in the Middle Ages, 
229; in modern times, 230. 

New England, self-government in, 
13, 22. 

New England Confederation, 18,431. 

New England town, 537-538. 

New Haven, 18. 

New Jersey plan, 432. 

New York, type of county govern¬ 
ment, 540-541. 

New Zealand, compulsory arbitra¬ 
tion in, 161-162. 

Nominating convention (see Con¬ 
vention, Nominations). 

Nominations, and the political party, 
356-357; legal regulation of, 
357; by caucus, 365-366; by 
convention, 366-367; by Direct 
Primary, 367-369; by petition, 
369-370. 

North America, attractions of, 2-3; 
colonization of, 3-6. 

Occupations of the American people, 
46. 

Oklahoma, 198. 

Old age, insurance against, 175-176. 

“One Big Union,” 116. 

Open shop, 158, 163. 

Open union, 163. 

Oregon, methods of popular control 
in, 392, 500. 

Panic of 1907, 321. 

Pardon, 450. 

Party (see Political party). 

Patents, 459. 

Paternalism, 36. 

Payne-Aldrich Act, 294. 


INDEX 


Pennsylvania type of county govern¬ 
ment, 540-542. 

Penology, changing ideals in, 198- 
199 (see Crime). 

Pensions, and industrial peace, 160, 
459 - 

Personal efficiency, and industrial 
reform, 148-149. 

Personal initiative under socialism, 
131-132. 

Petition, nomination by, 369-370. 

Petition of Right, 10, 29. 

Philadelphia, 21. 

Picketing, defined, 158 

Piece-work, 157. 

Pilgrims, 12-13. 

Pioneer life, and democracy, 11. 

Plurality candidates, 370. 

Plymouth, 18. 

Political party, nature of, 352; de¬ 
velopment of, 352-353; organi¬ 
zation of, 353; services rendered 
by, 353-355; evils of, 355-359; 
campaign contributions, 355-356, 
359; and nominations, 356-357; 
and elections, 356-357; and the 
spoils system, 357-358; favorit¬ 
ism shown by, 358-359; improve¬ 
ment of, 359-360; duty to sup¬ 
port, 360-361; and the individual, 
361. 

Political socialism (see Socialism). 

Popular control, and democracy, 11; 
in American government, 30; 
basis of, 389; indirect methods of, 
389-391; direct methods of, 391- 
396; significance of, 395-396; 
and the reform of municipal gov¬ 
ernment, 530-531 (see Initiative, 
Referendum, Recall). 

Population, increase in the colonial, 
23; of the United States, 45; 
growth of, 45; racial elements in, 
45, 181. 


581 

Post Office Department, 458. 

Poverty, necessity of eradicating, 
82; and justice, 142, 144; and 
wages, 149; and wise spending, 
149-150 (see Dependency). 

Powers, separation of governmental, 
i3, i4- 

Preferential voting, 370. 

President, original method of choos¬ 
ing 443; present method of choos¬ 
ing, 444; qualifications, 444-445; 
compensation, 445; term and suc¬ 
cession, 445; general status of, 
446; war powers of, 446-447; and 
foreign affairs, 447-448; admin¬ 
istrative powers of, 449-450; 
legislative powers of, 450; cabinet 
of, 454 - 455 - 

Presidential Succession Act, 445. 

Press, Public Opinion and the, 422- 
423 - 

Price, defined, 64-65; relation to 
value, 64-65; effect of movements 
of upon employer and employees, 
156 - 157 - 

Primary, distinguished from the 
caucus, 367 (see Direct Primary). 

Prison (see Crime). 

Private property, 77; and the single 
tax doctrine, 86-90; and social¬ 
ism, 103-109 (see Single tax, So¬ 
cialism) . 

Private rights, under the Federal 
Constitution, 434 “ 435 - 

Probate courts, 521. 

Problems of American democracy, 
35-41; widening circle of, 35-36; 
effect of an enlarged social con¬ 
science upon, 36; and paternal¬ 
ism, 36; complexity of, 37; fore¬ 
cast of, 37-39; point of view in 
studying, 40-41; and progress, 41. 

Production, meaning of, 53-58; pre¬ 
liminary explanation of, 55; and 


PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


582 

nature, 55-56; and man’s labor, 
56; and capital, 56-57; and co¬ 
ordination, 57; and government, 
58; summary of, 58; cooperative, 
97-98,99. . 

Profit sharing, 93-95; nature of, 
93; limits of, 93-94; and coopera¬ 
tion, 95; and industrial peace, 160. 

Profits, 72. 

Progress, spirit of, 31-32. 

Promise of American life, 39-40. 

Propaganda, and bolshevism, 126- 
127; and Public Opinion, 423-424. 

Proportional representation, 371. 

Prosecuting attorney, 522, 525. 

Protection (see Tariff). 

Public Defender, 198. 

Public Opinion, 419-427; nature of, 
419; and law, 419-420; develop¬ 
ment of, 420-421; and the home, 
421; and the school, 421-422; 
and the church, 422; and the 
theatre, 422; and the press, 422- 
423; growing importance of, 423; 
dangers of, 423-424; regulation 
of, 424-425; and the individual, 
425-426. 

Public revenue, sources of, 327-328. 

Public utilities, 277-288; regulation 
of, 277 (see Municipal ownership , 
National ownership). 

Railroads, in the United States, 48; 
development of, 280-281; de¬ 
creasing cost, 281; evils attending 
development of, 281-282; and leg¬ 
islation, 282-283, 286-287;control 
during the World War, 285-286; 
physical valuation of, 288 (see 
National ownership). 

Recall, nature of, 394; extent of, 
394; arguments for, 394-395; ob¬ 
jections urged against, 395; status 

. of, 395. 


Reclamation bureau, 245, 307. 

Redistribution of unearned wealth, 
143-144- 

Reed, Speaker, 479. 

Referendum, 391-392 (see Direct 
Legislation ). 

Rent, 70. 

Representation, of the majority, 370; 
of the majority, 370-371; pro¬ 
portional, 371. 

Representative democracy, 27 (see 
Democracy). 

Representative idea, spread of the, 

13-14. 

Representatives in Congress, num¬ 
ber of, 467; who may vote for, 
468; qualifications, 468; election 
of, 468; term of, 469-470 (see 
House of Representatives). 

Reprieve, 450. 

Republic, origin of, 10; examples 
of, 10. 

Reserve fund, 315 (see Banking). 

Revenues and expenditures, power 
of Congress over, 471. 

Revisor, in Wisconsin, 516. 

Revolution, and American govern¬ 
ments, 14; and the movement 
toward union, 23. 

“Revolution of 1910,” 479. 

Revolutionary period, financial 
troubles during the, 27. 

Rhode Island, 12, 14. 

Rights of the individual, 29-30 (see 
Private rights). 

Risks of industry, 173 (see Social 
insurance). 

Rochdale Society of Equitable Pio¬ 
neers, 96. 

Rockefeller, J. D., 269. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 242, 306. 

Root, Elihu, 29. 

Rules, Committee on, 479-480. 

Rural life, and immigration, 189. 


INDEX 


583 


significance of, 242; problem of, 
242,243; cityward drift, 243-244; 
back to the land movement, 244- 
245; and the Department of 
Agriculture, 245; Federal Farm 
Loan Act, 245-246; marketing, 
246- 247; other economic needs of 
the farmer, 247-248; tenancy, 
247; health in, 248; and the 
school, 248-249; and the church, 
249-250; and isolation, 250; and 
community spirit, 250-251. 

Rural local government, 537-542; 
types of, 537; town type of, 537- 
538; county type of, 539; mixed 
type of, 540-542; and home rule, 
542 . 

Russia, socialism in (see Bolshevists). 

Russian revolution, 135 (see Bolshe¬ 
vists). 

Sabotage, 115. 

School, and the immigrant, 189; the 
rural, 248-249; development of 
the, 256; financing the, 257; at¬ 
tendance, 258-259; curricula, 259- 
260; vocational education in, 

260- 261; extension of the term, 

261- 262; as a social center (see 
Education). 

Seager, Henry Rogers, 89. 

Self-government among the colonies, 
14. 

Self-sufficing argument in tariff dis¬ 
cussions, 298. 

Senate, origin of the, 465; special 
powers of the, 470; organiza¬ 
tion of the, 476-477; officers of 
the,.477 (see Congress).. 

Senators, term and qualifications of,. 
465-466; election of, 466; privi¬ 
leges and immunities of, 466-467; 
salary of, 466-467 (see Senate). 

Separafiop of powders, 13-14;. 


Shay’s Rebellion, 21. 

Sherman Anti-trust Act, 270-271, 
272 (see Trust). 

Short ballot, nature of the, 372; 
merits of the, 373. 

Sickness insurance, 175. 

Single tax, 86-90; defined, 86; and 
Henry George, 86-87; results 
claimed for, 87; arguments for, 

87- 88; objections urged against, 

88- 89; services rendered by the, 90. 

Smith-Hughes Act, 261. 

Social and economic differences be¬ 
tween the colonies, 22. 

Social conscience, and the problems 
of American democracy, 36. 

Social insurance, principle of, 174; 
justified, 174; types of, 174-176. 

Social problems, forecast of, 150-151. 

Social progress, 263. 

Social service, 234-235, 238. 

Socialism, defined, 103; and other 
radical theories, 104-105; and 
Karl Marx, 105; and capitalism, 
103-110; and the economic in¬ 
terpretation of history, 106; and 
the theory of surplus value, 106- 
107; and class struggle, 107; ul¬ 
timate aim of, 107-108; negative 
character of, 108; and violence, 
108-110; types of, 109; the case 
against, 130-138; administrative 
difficulties confronting, 130; dan¬ 
ger of a bureaucracy under, 130- 
131; and personal initiative, 131- 
132; theory of distribution un¬ 
sound, 132-133; theory of value 
unsound, 133-134; and .class 
struggle, 134-135; disproved by 
history, 135-136; claims too 
much, 136-137; defects outweigh 
its merits, 137; underrates capi¬ 
talism, 137-138 (see Bolshevists > 

LM- UTO... 


584 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


South, county government in the, 
539 (see Negro, Negro suffrage). 

South America, 44-45. 

Southern University Race Commis¬ 
sion, 211. 

Soviets, 122 (see Bolshevists). 

Spain, colonization of America by, 
3 - 4 - 

Speaker of the House of Represent¬ 
atives, 477-479- 

Special and local laws, defined, 513. 

Special legislation, 530. . 

Spirit, local versus national in early 
America, 18. 

Spirit of progress, 31, 32. 

Spoils system, origin, 357; and the 
political party, 357-358; in state 
government, 507-508. 

Stability of American government, 
28, 29. 

Stamp Act Congress, 19, 431. 

Standard of living, 184. 

Standard Oil Company, 269, 271. 

Standardization of educational fa¬ 
cilities, 258. 

State, Department of, 456. 

State administration, departments 
of, 380; reform of, 380-381; 
development of, 506-507; defects 
of, 507. 

State constitutions, classification of, 
496-497; analysis of, 497-500; 
methods of amending, 499-500 
(see State government, etc.). 

State courts, 519-525; classification 
of, 520-522; and the Federal 
courts, 522-523; powers of the, 
523; jurisdiction of the, 523-524; 
procedure in the, 523-525. 

State finances, 498-499. 

State governments, division of power 
between Federal government and, 
435-436; constitutional limita¬ 
tions upon, 495; powers of, 496 


(see State constitutions, State ad¬ 
ministration, etc.). 

State judges, 521-522. 

State law, the making of a, 514- 
515 - 

State legislatures, structure of, 
511; representation in, 511-512; 
organization of, 512-513; powers 
of, 513; the making of a law in, 
514-515; defects of, 515; reform 
of, 515-516; lobbying in, 516. 

Strength of American government, 
27-28. 

Strike, as used by the I. W. W., 114; 
defined, 158. 

Strike-breakers, 158-159. 

Suffrage, under bolshevism, 121-12 2; 
defined, 341; significance of, 341; 
in early times, 341-342; as a 
natural right, 342; extension of, 
343-344; shifts in the movement, 
345-346; present restrictions 
upon, 346; a privilege rather than 
a right, 347; fitness for the ex¬ 
ercise of, 347; Negro, 347-348 
(see Woman suffrage, Negro suf¬ 
frage). 

Superior courts, 521. 

Supreme Court, State, 521. 

Supreme Court of the United States, 
attitude toward social legislation, 
170, 177; nature and functions, 
487-488 (see Federal courts). 

Surplus value, 106-107. 

Surrogates’ courts, 521. 

Syndicalism, 113. 

Taft, William Howard, 196, 382. 

Tariff, 292-299; and exchange, 292; 
revenue, 292-293; protective, 
292-293; history of, 293-294; 
compromise character of, 294- 
295; arguments for and against 
protection, 295-298; trend to- 


INDEX 


ward protection, 298-299; needs, 
299. 

Taussig, Frank W., 81, 90, 163, 296. 

Tax, defined, 327 (see Taxation ). 

Taxation, 327-337; defects of, 
328-331; suggested reforms in, 
3311-337; lack of a system of, 
328; restrictions on the power 
of, 329, 332; assessment, 329-330; 
of intangible property, 330; 
double, 330-331, 332, 333, 334, 
336, 337; ideals in, 331-332; a 
proposed system of, 332-333; 
reform in land, 333"3345 of in¬ 
comes, 334-335; of inheritances, 
335-336; of corporations, 336^ 
337 (see Single tax). 

Taxes, and industry, 71-72. 

Tenancy, in rural districts, 247. 

Tenth Amendment, 435-436. 

Territories, power of Congress over, 
472. 

Theatre, the, 422. 

Thirteenth Amendment, 206. 

Town, the, n, 13; origin of, 537— 
538; in New England, 537~538; 
government of the, 538. 

Trade, of the United States, 48-49. 

Trade agreement, 160, 164. 

Trade union, rise of the, 155; what 
it wants, 156-157; weapons of, 
158-159. 

Transportation, in the United States, 
48; and exchange, 61-62. 

Transportation Act of 1920, 286, 
287, 288. 

Travel in colonial days, 22. 

Treasury, Department of, 456-457. 

Treaty of Paris, 21. 

Trial procedure in the state courts, 

523-525* 

Trotzky, 122, 123, 126. 

Trust, origin of the, 269; meaning 
of the term, 269-270; growth of 


585 

the movement, 270; abuse of 
power by the, 270; legislation 
affecting the, 270-272; future 
problem of, 273. 

Twelfth Amendment, 443. 

Underwood-Simmons Act, 204. 

Unearned increment, and the 
tax, 86-90. 

Unearned increment, and the single 
tax, 86-90. 

Unearned wealth, redistribution of, 
143 - 144 - 

Unemployment insurance, 176. 

Union, early attempts at, 18-19, 
430-431; under the Articles of 
Confederation, 19-21; obstacles 
to effective, 21-22; negative 
forces favoring, 22-23; positive 
forces favoring, 23-24. 

United States, favorable location of, 
44-45; population of, 44~45J 
wealth of, 45-46; occupations of 
the people of the, 46; natural 
resources of, 46-47; agriculture 
in the, 47; manufacturing in the, 
47-48; transportation and com¬ 
munication in the, 48; trade of 
the, 48-49; cooperation in the, 98. 

United States Steel Corporation, 270. 

United States Tariff Commission, 
299 - 

Unity, in American government, 31; 
effect of war upon, 31. 

Value, defined, 64-65; and price, 
64-65; under conditions of free 
competition, 79; socialist theory 
of, 106-107, 133 - 134 - 

Van Hise, C. R., 306. 

Vested interests argument in tariff 
discussions, 296-297. 

Veto power, of the President, 450- 
451, 483; of the governor, 514- 
5 r 5* 


586 PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 


Vice President of the United States, 
445-446, 477. 

Violence, attitude of socialism to¬ 
ward, 108-109. 

Virginia, 13. 

Virginia plan, 432. 

Vocational education, and the demo¬ 
cratic program of industrial re¬ 
form, 148; scope of, 260-261 (see 
Education). 

Voting, obstacles to intelligent, 371- 
372; neglect of the privilege of, 
373; compulsory, 374 (see Suf¬ 
frage). 

Wages, 71; why sometimes low, 
144-155; an economical remedy 
for low, 145-146; and poverty, 
149; and immigration, 184. 

Wages argument in tariff discussions, 
296. 

War, effect upon the unity of Ameri¬ 
can government, 31; Department 
of, 457 (see World War). 

War powers of the President, 446- 
447 - 

Washington, Booker T., 211. 

Washington, George, 410, 447, 454. 

Water power, conservation of, 304, 
306-309 (see Conservation ). 

Water transportation, in the United 
States, 48. 

Wealth, of the United States, 45-46; 
of other countries, 46; effect of 
the World War upon, 46; in¬ 
equality of, 81-82. 


Welfare work, and industrial peace, 
160. 

West, county government in, 539, 
540 - 541 - 

Whiskey Rebellion, 447. 

Wider use of the school plant move¬ 
ment, 261-262. 

Williams, Roger, 12. 

Wilson, Woodrow, 285, 382, 446, 
447 - 

Woman suffrage, in colonial days, 
342; extension of, 344, 345, 
346 . 

Woman Suffrage Association, 345- 
346 . 

Women, economic independence of, 
220-221; political emancipation 
of, 221 (see Women in industry , 
Woman suffrage, Family). 

Women in industry, number of, 171; 
wages of, 171; legislation af¬ 
fecting, 171-173. 

Work, why engaged in, 53. 

World War, and the republican 
movement, 10; and the strength 
of American government, 28, 31; 
and the wealth of the United 
States, 46; industry during, 81; 
and socialism, 104, no, 120, 121; 
and the Negro, 210; governmental 
control of railroads during, 285- 
286; and the tariff, 297-299; 
special powers of President Wilson 
during, 447. 

Writs, the great judicial, 490-491. 











































































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